INDUSTRIAL ACTION – order against industrial action – ss.418, 420, 604 Fair Work Act 2009 – appeal against interim order regarding s.418 application by Fredon Industries P/L (Fredon) – order pursuant to s.420(2) required a scheduled 48-hour stoppage of work not proceed – following the raising of an ‘apprentice clause’ claim in bargaining for a new enterprise agreement, CEPU gave written notice to Fredon of the 48-hour strike – Fredon made an application claiming the strike would not be protected industrial action because it was not ’employee claim action’ as defined in the FW Act – Fredon contended the ‘apprentice clause’ was not a claim that was about, or could reasonably be believed to be about, permitted matters – CEPU submitted the decision of the Commission manifested appealable error in seven respects – Full Bench satisfied of appealable error in an least two respects – firstly, by not disclosing any consideration as to whether making an interim order would be contrary to the public interest, there was a jurisdictional error in that the decision failed to give effect to terms of s.420(3) – secondly, the Full Bench held that CEPU (and Fredon) were denied procedural fairness, due to no indication being given as to the possibility the application could not be determined in a two-day period – held that all of the objective circumstances strongly indicated it would be heard and determined within this period – as parties were denied the opportunity to make submissions about whether an interim order should be made and if making one would be contrary to the public interest, this constituted a further jurisdictional error – Full Bench satisfied that order was demonstrably beyond power – although planned industrial action long past, the appeal was upheld and decision and interim order quashed – in relation to Fredon’s application for further s.418 orders, no evidence suggested any industrial action is happening, threatened, impending, probable or being organised – as the jurisdictional prerequisite for making orders was not satisfied, the application was dismissed. Appeal by Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Unions against decision of Riordan C of 20 April 2016 [[2016] FWC 2529] Re: Fredon Industries P/L t/a Fredon
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