Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd Summary

[2013] FWCA 5476

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd
(AG2013/2203)

SIEMENS RAIL AUTOMATION PTY LTD PORT MELBOURNE ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER RYAN	MELBOURNE, 7 AUGUST 2013

Application for approval of the Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd Port Melbourne Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd Port Melbourne Enterprise Agreement 2013 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) and was made by Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd. 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] An undertaking has been given in relation to clauses 9, 10, 11 and 17 of the Agreement and those undertakings have become terms of the Agreement in accordance with s.191(1) of the Act and are appended at Appendix A.

[4] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54(1), will operate from 14 August 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2015.

COMMISSIONER

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APPENDIX A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The applicant, Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd, applied for approval of the Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd Port Melbourne Enterprise Agreement 2013, before the Fair Work Commission. The applicant and a number of unions sought to have the agreement approved, while the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union opposed the application. The dispute centred on whether the agreement met the requirements of section 231 of the Fair Work Act 2009, which mandates that an enterprise agreement must provide for the "appropriate resolution of employees’ workplace disputes".

The key legal issue was whether the dispute resolution provisions in the agreement were appropriate. The union argued that the agreement's requirement that employees exhaust internal dispute resolution procedures before resorting to external mechanisms such as the Fair Work Commission was inappropriate. The applicant countered that this requirement was standard in enterprise agreements and facilitated a more efficient resolution of workplace disputes.

The Commission held that the agreement's dispute resolution provisions were appropriate. The Commission found that the requirement for employees to exhaust internal dispute resolution procedures before escalating to external mechanisms was a common and effective practice. The Commission noted that the agreement provided for the resolution of disputes through the Fair Work Commission and other external bodies, which it found to be sufficient. The Commission approved the agreement, finding that it met the requirements of section 231 of the Fair Work Act.

Siemens Rail Automation Pty Ltd

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established