Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd

[2014] FWCA 1696

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd
(AG2014/35)

DOWNER EDI ENGINEERING POWER PTY LTD YANDI SUSTAINING PROJECT CFMEU GREENFIELDS AGREEMENT 2013

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT GOSTENCNIK	MELBOURNE, 11 MARCH 2014

Application for approval of the Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd Yandi Sustaining Project CFMEU Greenfields Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd Yandi Sustaining Project CFMEU Greenfields Agreement 2013 (Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act). It has been made by Custom Resources & Recruitment Pty Ltd. The Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186 and 187 of the Act, as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] I am satisfied that the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the employee organisation to be covered by the agreement, is entitled to represent the industrial interests of a majority of employees who will be covered by the Agreement in relation to work that is to be performed under it. I am also satisfied that it is in the public interest to approve the Agreement.

[4] The model consultation clause is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[5] The Agreement was approved on 11 March 2014 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 18 March 2014. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 10 June 2015.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The parties involved in this matter were Downer EDI Engineering Power Pty Ltd, a mining services company, and the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). The dispute pertained to the application for the approval of the CFMEU Greenfields Agreement 2013, which was a proposed industrial agreement for the Yandi Sustaining Project. The matter was heard in the Fair Work Commission of Australia.

The central legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement complied with the relevant provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 and whether it was in the best interests of the employees. Specifically, the Commission needed to determine if the agreement was appropriately formed through a genuine and voluntary process and if it provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions for the employees.

In reaching its decision, the Commission considered various factors, including the process through which the agreement was negotiated, the content of the agreement itself, and the views of the employees and the employer. The Commission found that the agreement was genuinely negotiated and that it provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions for the employees. The Commission also noted that the agreement included provisions for dispute resolution, workplace health and safety, and the protection of employees' rights. As such, the Commission approved the application for the CFMEU Greenfields Agreement 2013.

The Commission's final order was the approval of the CFMEU Greenfields Agreement 2013 as an enterprise agreement under section 178 of the Fair Work Act 2009. This decision allowed the agreement to come into effect and be binding on the parties involved, providing a framework for the terms and conditions of employment for the employees working on the Yandi Sustaining Project.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established