Metropolitan Fire & Emergency Services Board

[2013] FWCA 8657

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Metropolitan Fire & Emergency Services Board
(AG2013/10983)

METROPOLITAN FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES BOARD, AMWU MECHANICAL ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2012

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER WILSON	MELBOURNE, 1 NOVEMBER 2013

Application for approval of the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, AMWU Mechanical Engineering Workshops Enterprise Agreement 2012.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board, AMWU Mechanical Engineering Workshops Enterprise Agreement 2012 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by the Metropolitan Fire & Emergency Services Board. The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I have accepted the undertakings attached to this decision and marked Annexure A, which have been provided by the Metropolitan Fire & Emergency Services Board. The undertakings are attached to the Agreement and will be taken to be a term of the Agreement pursuant to s.191 of the Act.

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

[4] 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 AMWU.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 8 November 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2015.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A:

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case before the Fair Work Commission involved the Metropolitan Fire & Emergency Services Board and the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union. The dispute centred on the approval of the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board AMWU Mechanical Engineering Workshops Enterprise Agreement 2012. The AMWU sought to have the enterprise agreement approved under section 233 of the Fair Work Act 2009. The legal issues the court needed to address were whether the agreement met the requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act and if it was in the best interest of the employees.

The Fair Work Commission assessed the agreement against the criteria set out in section 230 of the Fair Work Act. The Commission examined whether the agreement included terms that were necessary to protect employees' wages, conditions, and entitlements, and whether it was free from any unfair content. The Commission also considered if the agreement was made in good faith and if it was in the best interest of the employees. The Commission found that the agreement met the requirements for approval as it contained necessary terms for the protection of employees and did not include any unfair content. The Commission concluded that the agreement was in the best interest of the employees.

The Fair Work Commission approved the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board AMWU Mechanical Engineering Workshops Enterprise Agreement 2012 under section 233 of the Fair Work Act. The Commission found that the agreement was fair and in the best interest of the employees. The decision was made on the basis that the agreement contained necessary terms for the protection of employees, was free from any unfair content, and was made in good faith. The approval of the agreement will ensure that employees in the mechanical engineering workshops of the Metropolitan Fire & Emergency Services Board are protected by fair wages, conditions, and entitlements.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established