The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has signalled its intention to reject a proposal by a group of car rental companies to enter into collective negotiations with Perth Airport.
Perth Airport is using a competitive Request for Proposal process to allocate counter space and parking bays to car rental companies. A group of car rental companies wishes to collectively bargain with the airport about the licence terms and conditions for counter space and parking bays.
The members of the proposed bargaining group, Hertz, Thrifty, Avis, Budget and Europcar, all currently offer car rental services at the airport. These businesses lodged a notification with the ACCC on 3 May so that they could collectively bargain to assist them in their negotiations with the airport.
However, the ACCC received submissions opposing the collective bargaining notification from Redspot, a national car rental company that offers car rental services at the airport, and Westralia Airports Corporation, the operator of Perth Airport.
Redspot argued that the proposed collective bargaining arrangements would put Redspot at a competitive disadvantage. Westralia Airports argued that collective bargaining would prevent it from allocating airport space by means of an efficient competitive auction.
"The ACCC is concerned that collective bargaining by the group of car rental companies could undermine the Request for Proposal process being run by Westralia Airports. In this context, the ACCC has moved quickly to prevent collective negotiations from taking place while the ACCC further considers the notification," ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said today.
Interested parties now have an opportunity to request that the ACCC hold a conference in relation to the draft notice, and also to provide further information to the ACCC to assist its consideration of whether to issue a final notice objecting to the collective bargaining notification.
More information regarding the notification, copies of the draft objection notice and information on how to make a submission are available from the ACCC's website www.accc.gov.au/CollectiveBargainingRegister or by emailing the Adjudication Branch at adjudication@accc.gov.au.
Businesses may obtain protection in relation to collective bargaining conduct that might risk breaching provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 by lodging a collective bargaining notification with the ACCC. Once lodged, protection for the notified conduct begins automatically 14 days after the notification was validly lodged.
By issuing the draft objection notice, and by giving the members of the proposed collective bargaining group and other interested parties an opportunity to call a conference, the ACCC has prevented immunity arising from the giving of this notification from coming into effect.
The ACCC may object to a collective bargaining notification containing a cartel provision if it is satisfied that the likely benefit to the public from the conduct will not outweigh the likely detriment to the public. Before issuing an objection notice, the ACCC must issue a draft objection notice setting out its reasons for proposing to object to the notification and give interested parties an opportunity to call a conference.