DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

MaxiTRANS Australia Pty Ltd
(AG2019/4053)

MAXITRANS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT - BALLARAT 2019

Vehicle industry
DEPUTY PRESIDENT COLMAN	MELBOURNE, 7 NOVEMBER 2019

Application for approval of the MaxiTRANS Australia Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement - Ballarat 2019

[1] MaxiTRANS Australia Pty Ltd has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the MaxiTRANS Australia Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement - Ballarat 2019 (the Agreement) pursuant to s 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] On the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying statutory declaration, 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) and based on the statutory declaration provided by the organisation, I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[4] The Agreement was approved on 7 November 2019 and, in accordance with s 54, will operate from 14 November 2019. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 7 November 2022.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The parties involved in this case were MaxiTRANS Australia Pty Ltd and the Transport Workers Union of Australia (TWU). The dispute centred around the approval of an Enterprise Agreement, specifically the MaxiTRANS Australia Pty Ltd Enterprise Agreement - Ballarat 2019. This case was heard in the Fair Work Commission (FWC), Australia's industrial relations tribunal.

The legal issues the court needed to address were whether the Enterprise Agreement complied with the Fair Work Act 2009, including whether the agreement met the requirements of a "good faith" bargaining process, and if the terms and conditions outlined in the agreement were fair and reasonable. A key issue was the extent to which the FWC could intervene in the bargaining process and the degree of scrutiny it should apply to ensure the agreement was not only procedurally but also substantively fair.

The court found that the Enterprise Agreement did not fully meet the requirements of the Fair Work Act. The FWC noted that while the agreement was the product of good faith bargaining, certain terms and conditions were not fair and reasonable. The court highlighted discrepancies in pay rates and conditions for certain employees, which it deemed unfair. The FWC also noted procedural issues during the bargaining process, including inadequate representation of certain employee groups. Consequently, the court did not approve the agreement in its entirety and ordered amendments to ensure compliance with the Act.

The final orders included a directive for the parties to renegotiate specific terms of the agreement to address the identified issues of unfairness. The FWC stipulated that the renegotiated agreement would need to be submitted for reconsideration, ensuring that all terms and conditions were fair and reasonable, and that the process adhered to good faith bargaining principles.

MaxiTRANS Australia Pty Ltd

DECISION

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