Two high-profile illegal industrial action matters in two states highlight concerns the resource sector has with the proposed amalgamation of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).
IN the first matter, the CFMEU and seven senior officials organising blockades halting construction of Perth’s $1.2 billion Children’s Hospital, were fined $277,000 in a Federal Court decision for violating industrial relations laws in 2013.
The industrial action was organised because construction company John Holland “did not meet a ‘whole-of-site EBA demand’ sought by the CFMEU,” Justice Michael Barker stated.
The CFMEU was fined $220,500 and national secretary Dave Noonan $2,500.
“In addressing the group of workers, and after referring to John Holland’s strategy of driving down wages and conditions and its poor safety record, Mr Noonan said that CFMEU members ought not be taken for granted, as they would not ‘back down’,” the Judge stated.
Judge Barker noted Noonan ‘called on John Holland to treat its workforce with decency and respect’.
“He reminded those in attendance that they were not there to confront anyone; or argue and fight with the police. He urged CFMEU members to make a stand, but to do so peacefully, and to do so with ‘bravery, with respect and courageously’,” Judge Barker stated.
CFMEU official Tawa Harris admitted unlawful conduct for physically occupying the entrance of the site and received a personal fine. Former WA branch assistant secretary Joe McDonald and WA Branch Secretary Michael Buchan were also fined.
Noonan, Buchan, McDonald and Harris admitted they ‘organised, incited, participated in and controlled’ a blockade which prevented employees from attending work and carrying out a ‘critical’ concrete pour on 18 July 2013.
Buchan, McDonald and Noonan addressed the ‘vast crowd’, which included at one point as many as 600 people who met on a nearby median strip and in a carpark, about the CFMEU’s ‘Equal Pay Request’.
“Some 45 truckloads of concrete and slurry had been planned for that day,” the Judge stated.
“Not only could the trucks not access the site, but relevant workers could not access the site to carry out the concrete pour and it had to be abandoned.”
Justice Barker ruled out the industrial action was part of an ‘elaborate plan’ but said it was clearly ‘calculated’.
“There can be no doubt that the inference should be drawn that the very large meeting that day was calculated to disrupt the concrete pour and, at the very least, had that very significant effect,” the Judge stated.
Federal Court also fines CFMEU for slowing Victorian construction
Last week, the CFMEU and 10 officials were penalised $590,900 in a Federal Court liability judgement for co-ordinated unlawful industrial action across multiple construction projects worth nearly half a billion dollars in Victoria.
The CFMEU’s coordinated unlawful action saw nine Victorian projects shut down after workers walked off numerous construction sites in Melbourne and Geelong in April and May 2014 where Kane Constructions was the builder.
These essential projects included four hospitals and an aged care centre:
- $115m Epworth Hospital (Richmond)
- $115m Geelong Hospital
- $49m St John of God Hospital (Geelong)
- $45m Geelong Library
- $45m Aquanation centre (Ringwood)
- $38m Emporia Apartments (Prahran)
- $27m Owen Dixon Chambers (CBD)
- $25m Mercy Hospital (Sandringham)
- $20m BUPA aged care (Templestowe)
“In no instance was there any suggestion of an issue or grievance, specific to the site or the workers on it, that justified, or even explained, the organisation of industrial action,” Judge Christopher Jessop stated in issuing his penalties.
“The pattern tended to be that one of the respondents would arrive at a site, presumably with some agenda external to the interests of those working there, and disrupt the performance of normal work.”
He concluded that this was commonly done ‘without apology or the slightest sense of obligation to the laws which regulate the conduct of industrial relations in Australia’.
“At times, the attitude of the respondents could only be described as high-handed and arrogant,” Judge Jessop stated.
“The inference is irresistible that the industrial action which was organised by the respondents had the explicit object of inflicting commercial harm on Kane.”
In the decision, Judge Jessup stated that the ‘transparently groundless invocation of occupational health and safety as a pretext for entering the site reflected badly’ on the unionist and his employer.
“Were it to become commonplace, conduct of this kind could only tend to undermine the legitimacy of such genuine health and safety concerns as might be expressed by the CFMEU from time to time, to the long-term detriment of workers in the industry,” he said.
Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) director Nigel Hadgkiss said the penalties were ‘substantial’ and came after the union ‘stopped work on key public projects worth nearly half a billion dollars’.
“The CFMEU cannot ignore its obligations under Australia’s workplace laws… Flagrant disregard for workplace laws cannot be tolerated,” Mr Hadkiss said.
Michaelia Cash calls on CFMEU to address ‘flagrant lawlessness’
Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash noted the Federal Court penalties illustrated ‘yet another demonstration’ of the CFMEU’s ‘complete contempt for Australian workplace laws’.
She noted the union had been fined $9.2 million by various courts since 2007.
“Today there are still 100 CFMEU officials before the courts facing a total of 993 suspected contraventions of the law,” the Minister stated.
“Illegal industrial action by militant unions damages Australia’s international competitiveness, deters investment, damages job creation and imposes an unnecessary additional cost to construction.”
These types of cases demonstrate why AREEA is advocating for a proposed merger between the CFMEU and MUA to be blocked by the Australian Government on the basis that such a merger would not be in the public interest. To learn more or to have your say, contact [email protected].
