Application for approval of the Komatsu ADC Enterprise Agreement 2025

[1] This decision concerns an application for approval of the Komatsu ADC Enterprise Agreement 2025 (the Agreement). The application has been made under section 185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the FW Act) by Joy Global Australia Pty Ltd trading as Komatsu (the Applicant). The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement. The Fair Work Commission must approve the Agreement if the requirements in sections 186 and 187 of the FW Act are met.

[2] If the agreement is not a greenfields agreement, section 186(2)(a) of the FW Act requires the Fair Work Commission to be satisfied that the agreement has been genuinely agreed to by the employees covered by the agreement. The Agreement is not a greenfields agreement. The question of whether an enterprise agreement has been genuinely agreed to by the employees is determined by reference to section 188 of the FW Act. Section 188(4)(a) of the FW Act provides that the Fair Work Commission cannot be satisfied as to genuine agreement unless the Fair Work Commission is satisfied that sections 173 and 174 of the FW Act have been complied with. In considering the application, I raised a concern with the Applicant and the "Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) and another bargaining representative, which were the only bargaining representatives for the Agreement, concerning compliance with sections 173 and 174 of the FW Act. The concern being that the name of the agreement in the Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) was incorrect. The NERR named the agreement as the "Komatsu Mining ADC Enterprise Agreement 2022" (emphasis added). I sought the views of the Applicant, the AMWU and the other bargaining representative as to whether any such error in the NERR could be disregarded in accordance with section 188(5) of the FW Act. The Applicant confirmed there was an error with the NERR. The Applicant submitted that it was not opposed to the error being disregarded in accordance with section 188(5) of the FW Act. The AMWU did not oppose the error being disregarded in accordance with section 188(5) of the FW Act. The other bargaining representative failed to express a view within the time frame specified by the Commission. Taking into account the views of the Applicant and the AMWU, I am satisfied that that the reference to Mining and 2022 in the NERR was a minor error that can be disregarded in accordance with section 188(5) of the FW Act. In particular, I am satisfied that the employees were not likely to have been disadvantaged by that error.

[3] Based on the material provided by the Applicant and the AMWU, each of the other requirements of the FW Act that are relevant to this Agreement are satisfied.

[4] Section 201 of the FW Act requires the approval decision to note certain matters. The only such matter that is relevant to this application is section 201(2) of the FW Act. The "Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU), which was a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given the Fair Work Commission a notice under section 183(1) of the FW Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with section 201(2) of the FW Act, I note that the Agreement covers the "Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union" known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU).

[5] The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with section 54 of the FW Act, it will operate from 10 July 2025. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 31 May 2028.

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