National Union of Workers v Qantas Airways Ltd

In the matter of National Union of Workers v Qantas Airways Ltd, the applicant, the National Union of Workers (NUW), sought declaratory relief under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to determine the relevant industrial agreements applicable to certain employees engaged at the Sydney Freight Terminal (SFT) by the respondent, Qantas Airways Ltd. The dispute centred on whether the Qantas Airways Limited (National Union of Workers) Enterprise Agreement 9 applied to employees classified as Airline Services Operators at the SFT, engaged in freight operations post-10 October 2012. The NUW argued that the same agreement should continue to apply to these employees while the Enterprise Agreement remained in force.

The primary legal issue before the Court was to ascertain which industrial instrument—either the NUW EBA or the TWU Determination—correctly applied to the employees' duties at the SFT. The Court had to establish the scope of duties covered by each agreement and determine which agreement, if any, governed the re-engaged employees' roles. The Court considered the statutory provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) that outline when an enterprise agreement or workplace determination applies to an employee. Given that no specific provision addressed the overlap between an enterprise agreement and a workplace determination, the Court had to interpret the relevant sections to resolve the conflict.

The Court found that the duties of the re-engaged employees fell within the scope of the TWU Determination rather than the NUW EBA. The evidence indicated that the employees' roles, particularly those involving the handling and movement of freight within the SFT, were classified as "on-airport work," which was explicitly covered by the TWU Determination. Consequently, the Court declined to grant the declaratory relief sought by the NUW and dismissed the application. The Court held that the TWU Determination was the appropriate industrial instrument governing the employees' employment conditions at the SFT.