DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Dux Manufacturing Limited T/A Dux Hot Water
(AG2019/1017)

DUX MANUFACTURING MOSS VALE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2019

Manufacturing and associated industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MASSON	MELBOURNE, 23 APRIL 2019

Application for approval of the Dux Manufacturing Moss Vale Enterprise Agreement 2019.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Dux Manufacturing Moss Vale Enterprise Agreement 2019 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Dux Manufacturing Limited T/A Dux Hot Water. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

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

[3] The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 30 April 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 March 2022.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the matter of Dux Manufacturing Limited trading as Dux Hot Water, an application was made to the Fair Work Commission for approval of the Dux Manufacturing Moss Vale Enterprise Agreement 2019. The applicant, Dux Manufacturing Limited, sought to have the agreement recognised as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was contested by the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, which argued that the agreement did not meet the requirements of the Act.

The central issue before the Commission was whether the Dux Manufacturing Moss Vale Enterprise Agreement 2019 complied with the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009, including the requirement that the agreement be "freely" negotiated between the employer and the employees. The Commission needed to consider the process by which the agreement was negotiated and whether it was genuinely agreed upon by both parties.

The Fair Work Commission examined the evidence provided by both parties, including the negotiation process and the content of the agreement. The Commission found that the agreement was indeed freely negotiated, as it was reached after a process of good faith bargaining between the employer and the union. The Commission also noted that the union had participated in the negotiation process and that the agreement reflected a compromise between the parties. Accordingly, the Commission approved the agreement as a registered enterprise agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The Fair Work Commission approved the Dux Manufacturing Moss Vale Enterprise Agreement 2019 as a registered agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The Commission found that the agreement had been freely negotiated between the employer and the union, and that it met the requirements of the Act. The agreement now provides the basis for the terms and conditions of employment for the relevant employees.

Dux Manufacturing Limited T/A Dux Hot Water

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established