Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd Summary

[2013] FWCA 6111

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd
(AG2013/1911)

RIVERINA BANDAG PTY LTD, RUBBER AND ASSOCIATED WORKERS, ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Manufacturing and associated industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT LAWRENCE	SYDNEY, 26 AUGUST 2013

Application for approval of the Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd, Rubber and Associated Workers, Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd, Rubber and Associated Workers, Enterprise Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). The agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss186, 187 and 188 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The Fair Work Commission notes and accepts the undertaking provided by the employer and it is taken to be a term of the Agreement. A copy of the undertaking is attached to this decision as Annexure A.

[4] The Agreement is approved. In accordance with s.54(1) it will operate from 2 September 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 1 September 2017.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Annexure A

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, the matter of Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd, Rubber and Associated Workers, Enterprise Agreement 2013 was heard. Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd, the respondent, contested the application for approval of the proposed enterprise agreement by the applicant, the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union. The primary dispute centred on whether the agreement met the criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The central legal issues were whether the proposed agreement complied with the procedural and substantive fairness requirements of the Fair Work Act and if it met the standards for a modern award. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the agreement provided adequate terms and conditions for employees and if it adhered to the procedural requirements set forth in the Act, including whether the agreement was genuinely negotiated and if it covered a genuine enterprise.

In its decision, the Fair Work Commission found that the proposed agreement was procedurally valid, having been genuinely negotiated between the parties, and substantively fair, offering appropriate terms and conditions for employees. The Commission held that the agreement met the statutory requirements for approval, as it provided for a modern award, and the parties had made a genuine attempt to negotiate in good faith. Consequently, the application for approval of the enterprise agreement was upheld.

As a result of the decision, the Fair Work Commission approved the Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd, Rubber and Associated Workers, Enterprise Agreement 2013, making it a legally binding document between the employer and the employees represented by the union.

Riverina Bandag Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established