Tatura Milk Industries Limited Summary

[2014] FWCA 4423

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Tatura Milk Industries Limited
(AG2014/6225)

TATURA MILK INDUSTRIES LIMITED METAL AND ELECTRICAL TRADES UNION ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2014

Manufacturing and associated industries
DEPUTY PRESIDENT KOVACIC	MELBOURNE, 2 JULY 2014

Application for approval of the Tatura Milk Industries Limited Metal and Electrical Trades Union Enterprise Agreement 2014.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Tatura Milk Industries Limited Metal and Electrical Trades Union Enterprise Agreement 2014 (Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act). It has been made by Tatura Milk Industries Limited. The Agreement is a single-enterprise agreement.

[2] I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187 and 188 of the Act as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[3] The agreement does not contain a consultation term with the content required by s.205(1) and (1A) of the Act. Accordingly, in accordance with s.205(2), the model consultation term contained in Schedule 2.3 of the Fair Work Regulations 2009 is taken to be a term of the agreement.

[4] 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, being bargaining representatives 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 those organisations.

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 9 July 2014 The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 January 2017.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Tatura Milk Industries Limited, the applicant sought approval of the Metal and Electrical Trades Union Enterprise Agreement 2014. The dispute arose in the Fair Work Commission, Australia’s workplace relations tribunal. The applicant, Tatura Milk Industries Limited, sought to have the agreement recognised and registered under the Fair Work Act 2009. The legal issues centred on whether the agreement met the statutory requirements for approval, particularly in relation to the process by which it was negotiated and the provisions it contained.

The court was required to determine whether the agreement was a "certified agreement" as defined in the Fair Work Act. This involved examining the process of negotiation to ensure it complied with the Act's requirements, and evaluating the contents of the agreement to ascertain whether it included the necessary minimum terms and conditions, as well as whether it was free from prohibited content. The court also had to consider whether the agreement was in the best interests of the employees it covered.

After thorough examination, the Commission found that the agreement was negotiated in accordance with the legal requirements and contained all necessary minimum terms and conditions. The Commission was satisfied that the process was fair and the contents of the agreement did not include any prohibited provisions. Therefore, the Commission approved the agreement. The applicant was granted the relief sought, and the agreement was registered under the Fair Work Act. This decision ensures that the terms of the agreement are legally enforceable between the employer and the union, and applicable to the employees covered by the agreement.

Tatura Milk Industries Limited

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established