Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd

[2022] FWCA 2361

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185—Enterprise agreement

Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd

(AG2022/2149)

Progress Rail Freight Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2022

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER P RYAN	SYDNEY, 14 JULY 2022

Application for approval of the Progress Rail Freight Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2022

Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd (Employer) has made an application for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Progress Rail Freight Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2022 (Agreement) pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

Section 190 Undertakings

The Employer provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the Agreement.

Sections 186, 187, 188 and 190

Subject to the undertakings referred to above, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

Section 183 Bargaining representatives

The “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), each being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, have given notice under s.183 of the Act that they want the Agreement to cover them.

In accordance with s.201(2) of the Act, I note that the Agreement covers the AMWU and the CEPU.

Approval

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 21 July 2022. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 3 January 2026.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Fair Work Commission involved an application for approval of the Progress Rail Freight Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2022, between Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd and its employees. The Fair Work Commission was tasked with determining whether the agreement met the legal requirements for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009. The company sought to have the agreement, which had been negotiated and agreed upon by the parties, recognised and enforced as a valid enterprise agreement.

The central legal issue before the Commission was whether the agreement had been made in accordance with the procedural and substantive requirements set out in the Fair Work Act. Specifically, the Commission needed to ascertain whether the agreement was genuinely negotiated and whether it satisfied the "better off overall test" which requires that employees be no worse off financially under the agreement than they would have been under their previous conditions of employment. Furthermore, the Commission had to consider whether the agreement contained all the mandatory terms and conditions as required by the Act.

In assessing the application, the Commission reviewed the evidence provided by both parties regarding the negotiation process and the contents of the agreement. It was found that the agreement had been genuinely negotiated between the employer and the relevant employee representatives. The Commission also concluded that the agreement met the better off overall test, as employees would not be worse off financially. Additionally, the Commission confirmed that the agreement contained all the mandatory terms and conditions as required by the Act. Consequently, the Fair Work Commission approved the Progress Rail Freight Maintenance Enterprise Agreement 2022.

The Commission issued an order approving the agreement, which will now be binding on all employees covered by the agreement and the employer. The approval ensures that the agreement will be recognised and enforceable, providing a framework for the terms and conditions of employment for the employees involved.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established