Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd Summary

[2013] FWCA 7466

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd
(AG2013/2819)

PIPELINE TECHNICS PTY LTD ROY HILL AWU GREENFIELDS AGREEMENT 2013

Building, metal and civil construction industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT MCCARTHY	PERTH, 2 OCTOBER 2013

Application for approval of the Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

[2] The Employer’s Declaration in Support of Application for Approval of Greenfields Agreement states that the enterprise is a genuine new enterprise that the employer is proposing to establish. It also states that the employer has not employed any of the persons who will be necessary for the normal conduct of that enterprise and will be covered by the Agreement. I am therefore satisfied that the requirements of s.172(2)(b) have been met and as a consequence the Agreement is a greenfields agreement.

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

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from seven days from the date of this decision. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is three and a half years from the date of this decision.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Fair Work Commission involved an application by Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd for the approval of the Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd Roy Hill AWU Greenfields Agreement 2013. The applicant sought to have the agreement registered as a registered organisation agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009. The application was made in light of the parties' intention to avoid industrial action, and to facilitate a more streamlined and efficient industrial relations environment.

The primary legal issue the Commission was required to decide was whether the agreement met the requirements of section 230 of the Fair Work Act, which sets out the criteria for the registration of a registered organisation agreement. In particular, the Commission needed to consider whether the agreement was genuinely made by the parties, whether it was made in good faith, and whether it contained provisions that were contrary to public policy.

The Commission found that the agreement met all the statutory requirements for registration. It was satisfied that the agreement was genuinely made by the parties, and that it had been negotiated in good faith. The Commission also found that the agreement contained provisions that were not contrary to public policy. As such, the application for approval of the agreement was successful. The Commission registered the agreement as a registered organisation agreement, and it will now be subject to the protections and obligations of the Fair Work Act.

In light of the decision, Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd and the AWU were required to abide by the terms of the agreement, and the agreement could not be varied except in accordance with the provisions of the Fair Work Act. The decision provided a framework for the parties to work together in a more streamlined and efficient industrial relations environment, and avoided the potential for industrial action.

Pipeline Technics Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established