Sunstone Resources Pty Ltd

[2013] FWCA 4532

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

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

Sunstone Resources Pty Ltd
(AG2013/1512)

SUNSTONE RESOURCES AND RAIL TRAM BUS UNION ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2013-2015

Rail industry
SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT HARRISON	SYDNEY, 9 JULY 2013

Application for approval of the Sunstone Resources and Rail Tram Bus Union Enterprise Agreement 2013-2015.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Sunstone Resources and Rail Tram Bus Union Enterprise Agreement 2013-2015 (the Agreement). The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement. It has been made by Sunstone Resource Pty Ltd, and The Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union.

[2] The application is made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss186 and 187 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.In particular, I am satisfied that the employee organisation is entitled to represent the industrial interests of a majority of employees who will be covered by the Agreement in relation to work that is to be performed under it. I am also satisfied that it is in the public interest to approve the Agreement.

[3] An undertaking concerning clause 28.2 has also been provided by the employer and it is taken to be a term of the Agreement. A copy of the undertaking is attached at Annexure A.

[4] The Agreement is approved. In accordance with s.54(1) it will operate from 16 July 2013. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2015.

SENIOR DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Annexure A

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Fair Work Commission, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union sought approval of an Enterprise Agreement between Sunstone Resources and its employees, dated 2013-2015. The Union argued the agreement met the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009 and should be certified as a single, indivisible agreement. Sunstone Resources contested the Union's claim, asserting that the agreement contained multiple components, each of which should be considered separately for approval.

The legal issues before the Commission included whether the agreement constituted a single, indivisible document or multiple agreements, and if it contained mandatory terms as defined by the Act. The Union argued that the agreement was a single, coherent document which should be approved in its entirety. Sunstone Resources maintained that the agreement was divisible into multiple parts, some of which did not meet the requirements for mandatory terms. The Commission needed to determine the correct interpretation of the agreement and whether it complied with the statutory requirements for approval.

After reviewing the terms and structure of the agreement, the Commission found that the document was a single, indivisible Enterprise Agreement. The Commission held that the agreement contained mandatory terms as defined by the Act and that the Union had demonstrated that the agreement had been fairly and genuinely negotiated. Consequently, the Commission approved the agreement as a single, indivisible Enterprise Agreement.

The Fair Work Commission ordered that the Sunstone Resources and Rail Tram Bus Union Enterprise Agreement 2013-2015 be approved as a single, indivisible agreement and certified under the Fair Work Act 2009. The agreement was to apply to all employees of Sunstone Resources who were party to the agreement and covered by its provisions.

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established