DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

CSL Australia Pty Ltd
(AG2017/6226)

CSL AUSTRALIA - DONNACONA TRANSHIPMENT OPERATIONS ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2017

Maritime industry
COMMISSIONER MCKINNON	MELBOURNE, 16 FEBRUARY 2018

Application for approval of the CSL Australia - Donnacona Transhipment Operations Enterprise Agreement 2017.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the CSL Australia - Donnacona Transhipment Operations Enterprise Agreement 2017 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by CSL Australia Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] The Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers and the Australian Maritime Officers’ Union being bargaining representatives for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisations.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 23 February 2018. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 15 February 2022.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

CSL Australia Pty Ltd applied to the Fair Work Commission for approval of an enterprise agreement. The dispute involved the terms of the proposed agreement and its compliance with the Fair Work Act 2009. The nature of the disagreement centred on the classification of employees, conditions of employment, and the overall fairness of the agreement in accordance with the statutory requirements for enterprise agreements under Australian labour law. The Fair Work Commission was tasked with determining whether the agreement met the legal criteria for being considered a "bargained agreement" and whether it passed the "better-off, worse-off or indifferent" test, ensuring that employees were not disadvantaged by the terms of the agreement.

The primary legal issues before the Commission involved scrutinising the negotiation process to ensure that the agreement was genuinely bargained between the employer and the employees, as well as assessing whether the agreement provided employees with no worse and reasonably better conditions than those provided under the applicable awards or other relevant agreements. The Commission also had to consider whether the agreement contained all the mandatory terms required by the Fair Work Act and whether it complied with the provisions for procedural fairness.

In its decision, the Fair Work Commission determined that the agreement had been genuinely negotiated between CSL Australia and the union representing the employees. The Commission found that the negotiation process was robust and that the agreement provided employees with no worse and reasonably better conditions of employment. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement met all the mandatory terms required by the Fair Work Act and complied with the procedural fairness requirements. As a result, the Commission approved the CSL Australia - Donnacona Transhipment Operations Enterprise Agreement 2017.

CSL Australia Pty Ltd

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established