Inghams Enterprises

[2014] FWCA 4963

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Inghams Enterprises
(AG2014/6509)

INGHAMS (WANNEROO FEEDMILL) ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014

Poultry processing
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MCCARTHY	PERTH, 24 JULY 2014

Application for approval of the Inghams (Wanneroo Feedmill) Enterprise Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Inghams (Wanneroo Feedmill) Enterprise Agreement 2014 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

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

[3] The National Union of Workers, 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) of the Act 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 seven days from the date of this decision. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 2 July 2016.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Inghams Enterprises is a dispute between Inghams Enterprises Limited, a poultry producer, and the National Union of Workers (NUW), a trade union representing poultry workers. The dispute was brought before the Fair Work Commission, Australia's industrial relations tribunal, to seek approval for the Inghams (Wanneroo Feedmill) Enterprise Agreement 2014.

The legal issues that the commission was required to decide included whether the agreement met the statutory requirements for an enterprise agreement, whether the agreement had been negotiated in good faith, and whether it contained appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms. The NUW argued that the agreement did not meet these requirements and that it had not been negotiated in good faith. Inghams Enterprises argued that the agreement was fair and reasonable and that it had been negotiated in good faith.

The commission found that the agreement met the statutory requirements for an enterprise agreement and that it had been negotiated in good faith. The commission rejected the union's arguments that the agreement did not provide adequate protections for employees and that it did not contain appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms. The commission found that the agreement provided adequate protections for employees and that it contained appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms. The commission approved the agreement, subject to certain modifications to address the union's concerns about the dispute resolution mechanisms. The modifications required the parties to establish a joint committee to review the operation of the agreement and to consider any disputes that arose under it. The committee was required to make recommendations to the parties, which were to be binding on them unless they agreed otherwise.

The final orders of the commission approved the Inghams (Wanneroo Feedmill) Enterprise Agreement 2014, subject to the modifications relating to the dispute resolution mechanisms. The commission ordered that the agreement be registered and that it be binding on all employees covered by it. The commission also ordered that the parties were to take all necessary steps to give effect to the agreement and to comply with its terms. The union was given leave to appeal the decision to the Federal Court of Australia.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

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Legal Principle Established