The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia v Os Acpm Pty Ltd and Os McAp Pty Ltd

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia brought a case against Os Acpm Pty Ltd and Os McAp Pty Ltd. The unions sought to have the Fair Work Commission's decisions reviewed, which had dismissed their applications for unfair dismissal against the companies. The matter was heard by the Full Bench of the Federal Court of Australia.

The legal issues before the court involved whether the Fair Work Commission's decisions were correct in finding that the employees were not protected by unfair dismissal provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the employees were genuinely redundant or if the dismissals were due to operational reasons rather than redundancy. The unions argued that the dismissals were unjust and that the employees should have been protected under the Act.

The Full Bench found that the Fair Work Commission had not erred in its decision. The court determined that the employees were not protected by the unfair dismissal provisions because their positions were genuinely redundant. The court found that the companies had undertaken a proper redundancy process and that the dismissals were due to genuine operational reasons rather than being a pretext for avoiding the unfair dismissal provisions. The court rejected the unions' arguments, affirming the earlier decisions of the Fair Work Commission.

The Full Bench dismissed the appeals and upheld the Fair Work Commission's decisions. The court found that the dismissals were not unfair and that the employees were not entitled to the protections of the Fair Work Act in this instance.