Opal Packaging Australia Pty Ltd T/A Opal Bag Solutions

[2024] FWCA 636

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Opal Packaging Australia Pty Ltd T/A Opal Bag Solutions

(AG2024/289)

OPAL BAG SOLUTIONS THOMASTOWN ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2024

Graphic Arts
COMMISSIONER ALLISON	MELBOURNE, 23 FEBRUARY 2024

Application for approval of the Opal Bag Solutions Thomastown Enterprise Agreement 2024

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Opal Bag Solutions Thomastown Enterprise Agreement 2024 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Opal Packaging Australia Pty Ltd T/A Opal Bag Solutions. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

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.

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 organisation.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 1 March 2024. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 March 2026.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, Opal Packaging Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Opal Bag Solutions, applied for the approval of the Opal Bag Solutions Thomastown Enterprise Agreement 2024. The applicant sought to have the agreement recognised as a single-employer enterprise agreement, covering the employees of Opal Packaging Australia Pty Ltd at its Thomastown site. The dispute centred on whether the terms and conditions proposed in the agreement were fair and reasonable for the employees and whether the agreement complied with the relevant statutory requirements.

The Commission was tasked with determining whether the agreement provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the agreement. This involved considering whether the agreement met the statutory minimum standards prescribed by the Fair Work Act 2009, and whether the agreement was made in good faith and without coercion. The Commission also had to assess whether the agreement contained any terms that would be unfair to the employees or contrary to public policy.

The Commission found that the agreement provided for fair and reasonable terms and conditions of employment for the employees covered by the agreement. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement met the statutory minimum standards and was made in good faith and without coercion. The Commission also found that the agreement did not contain any terms that would be unfair to the employees or contrary to public policy. Accordingly, the Commission approved the Opal Bag Solutions Thomastown Enterprise Agreement 2024 as a single-employer enterprise agreement.

The Commission made orders approving the Opal Bag Solutions Thomastown Enterprise Agreement 2024 as a single-employer enterprise agreement, effective from the date of the decision. The agreement was registered on the Register of Approved Enterprise Agreements, and the Commission directed that copies of the agreement be provided to the relevant parties. The decision also included provisions for the ongoing operation and administration of the agreement, including the establishment of a joint consultative committee to oversee its implementation and address any issues that may arise.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established