DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Montague Cold Storage Pty Ltd t/a Montague Cold Storage
(AG2015/7406)

MONTAGUE COLD STORAGE (ALLANSFORD) AND NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015

Storage services
DEPUTY PRESIDENT GOSTENCNIK	MELBOURNE, 7 DECEMBER 2015

Application for approval of the Montague Cold Storage (Allansford) and National Union of Workers Enterprise Agreement 2015.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Montague Cold Storage (Allansford) and National Union of Workers Enterprise Agreement 2015 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Montague Cold Storage Pty Ltd t/a Montague Cold Storage. 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] Pursuant to s.205(2) of the Act, the model consultation term prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the Agreement.

[4] 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) and based on the statutory declaration provided by the organisation, I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement was approved on 7 December 2015 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 14 December 2015. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 September 2018.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Montague Cold Storage Pty Ltd, trading as Montague Cold Storage, applied for approval of the Montague Cold Storage (Allansford) and National Union of Workers Enterprise Agreement 2015. The application was heard in the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which was tasked with determining whether the agreement met the necessary criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred on whether the enterprise agreement complied with the provisions of the Act, including its alignment with the statutory minimum entitlements and whether it was free from prohibited content.

The primary legal issues the FWC addressed were whether the agreement provided for terms and conditions that met or exceeded the statutory minimum standards and whether it contained any provisions that were deemed unfair or contrary to the public interest. The FWC needed to scrutinise the agreement's provisions to ensure that it did not contravene any aspects of the Fair Work Act and that it was not unfair in any way to the employees it covered.

In its decision, the FWC examined the various clauses of the enterprise agreement, ensuring that they did not fall below the statutory minima and that they were not unfair. The FWC found that the agreement met all the legal requirements for approval. It provided for terms and conditions that were at least equivalent to the statutory minimum standards, and it did not contain any provisions that were deemed to be unfair or contrary to the public interest. Consequently, the FWC approved the agreement, confirming that it could be registered and implemented.

The FWC's final order was that the Montague Cold Storage (Allansford) and National Union of Workers Enterprise Agreement 2015 be approved and registered, effective from the date of the decision. This ruling allowed the agreement to be enforced as a legally binding document between Montague Cold Storage and the National Union of Workers, ensuring that the terms and conditions of employment were adequately protected and regulated under the Fair Work Act.

Montague Cold Storage Pty Ltd t/a Montague Cold Storage

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established