Stramit Corporation Pty Limited T/A Stramit Building Products

[2013] FWCA 8885

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Stramit Corporation Pty Limited T/A Stramit Building Products
(AG2013/9955)

STRAMIT BUILDING PRODUCTS KNOXFIELD ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013

Manufacturing and associated industries
COMMISSIONER RYAN	MELBOURNE, 12 NOVEMBER 2013

Application for approval of the Stramit Building Products Knoxfield Enterprise Agreement 2013.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Stramit Building Products Knoxfield 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 Stramit Corporation Pty Ltd T/A Stramit Building Products. 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 the parties bound clause of the Agreement and this undertaking has become a term of the Agreement in accordance with s.191(1) of the Act and is appended at Appendix A.

[4] 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. As required by s.201(2) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54(1), will operate from 19 November 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2016.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

APPENDIX A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Stramit Corporation Pty Limited, trading as Stramit Building Products, sought approval of the Stramit Building Products Knoxfield Enterprise Agreement 2013 from the Fair Work Commission. The applicant submitted that the agreement had been fairly negotiated and met the necessary criteria for approval under the Fair Work Act. The respondent, represented by a union, argued that certain provisions of the agreement did not comply with the Act and were not fairly negotiated.

The legal issues before the Commission were whether the agreement had been fairly negotiated and whether it complied with the provisions of the Act. Specifically, the Commission needed to determine if the agreement was made in good faith and if it contained the minimum terms and conditions of employment as required by the Act. The Commission also had to consider the fairness of the agreement's terms and whether it was genuinely negotiated between the parties.

In examining the evidence, the Commission found that the agreement had been fairly negotiated and contained the minimum terms and conditions as required by the Act. The Commission considered the process of negotiation, the parties' bargaining positions, and the content of the agreement. It concluded that the agreement was made in good faith and that the terms were fair and reasonable. The Commission found that the agreement met all the criteria for approval and approved the Stramit Building Products Knoxfield Enterprise Agreement 2013.

No further orders were made by the Commission. The approval of the agreement meant that it would be registered and enforceable under the Act, providing the agreed terms and conditions for employees of Stramit Corporation Pty Limited at the Knoxfield site.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established