Penalties imposed on the Construction, Forestry, Mining, Maritime and Energy Union (CFMMEU) soared towards the $1 million mark last week, in another display of the union’s recidivist law-breaking behaviour. It prompted one judge to again call for the union to be deregistered, highlighting the need for the government to pass stronger measures for union governance as contained in the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring Integrity) Bill 2017.

Cartel conduct charged laid against CFMMEU

Criminal charges have been laid against the CFMMEU and its ACT Divisional Branch Secretary, Jason O’Mara, in relation to alleged cartel conduct.

“The CFMMEU and Mr O’Mara are each charged with attempting to induce suppliers of steelfixing services and scaffolding services to reach cartel contracts, arrangements or understandings containing cartel provisions in relation to services provided to builders in the ACT in 2012 to 2013,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Rod Sims said.

The charges follow a joint investigation between the ACCC and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) as part of the AFP’s role in coordinating and contributing to the Joint Police Task Force following the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption.

The charges are being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP), with the first mention of the charges before the ACT Magistrates Court scheduled for 27 September 2018.

The Competition and Consumer Act requires any trial of such offences to proceed by way of indictment in the Federal Court of Australia or a state or territory Supreme Court.

The ACCC has recently set up an anonymous reporting portal where members of the public can report and communicate anonymously with an ACCC investigator about anti-competitive practices in the construction sector.

Read the full ACCC statement here.

Qld union boss ordered unlawful blockades

CFMMEU State Secretary Michael Ravbar has been found by the Federal Court to have ordered unlawful blockades against a crane company because it refused to sign up to a contentious union agreement, the Australian Financial Review reported.

It was reported the decision now threatens Mr Ravbar’s right to enter work sites and raises the prospect of significant personal penalties.

Justice John Reeves found Mr Ravbar’s behaviour constituted unlawful discrimination when he pressured a crane company to enter a union pattern agreement by ordering organisers to disrupt its cranes.

The company owner refused to agree to a CFMMEU pattern agreement, which involved paying money into the union’s redundancy fund and a clause that allowed the union to stop work for two-hour meetings at any time, the article stated.

The ABCC alleged CFMMEU officials also stopped the company from working at large civil construction projects, such as the $1.5 billion Legacy Way tunnel project.

In one instance, six CFMMEU organisers allegedly got up in the early morning to follow cranes leaving the company premises to disrupt their work when they arrived at project sites.

Almost a year later, the company owner relented and agreed to the CFMMEU deal.

The ABCC is now expected to propose penalties against the CFMMEU, Mr Ravbar and Mr Sutherland, with maximum fines per breach of $6,600 for an individual and $33,000 for the union.

Right of entry contravention costs CFMMEU

The Federal Court imposed penalties totaling $271,500 against the CFMMEU and two of its officials after they refused to show their right of entry permits and were abusive when asked to do so at the Bendigo Theatre site in Victoria.

Earlier this year the Court found Mr Davies acted in an improper manner when he refused to produce his entry permit when asked to do so on 22 July 2014 and 29 July 2014.

During the 22 July site entry, Mr Davies, after refusing to show his entry permit, told the project manager to “f**k off” on one occasion and “go away” on another occasion.

Mr Davies also held his mobile phone in close proximity to the project manager’s face while taking photos of him and refused multiple requests to leave the site. Victoria Police were subsequently called to the site.

Mr Tadic was found to have engaged in a “lengthy and foul-mouthed tirade” when asked to explain his presence on the site on 1 August 2014 and told the project manager words to the effect: “I’m not dealing with a f***ing pen pusher.”

The CFMMEU was penalised $245,000 while its officials Nigel Davies and Alex Tadic were penalised $19,000 and $7,500 respectively for contravening right of entry laws at the site in July and August 2014.

Justice Tracey of the Federal Court said the CFMMEU has failed to acknowledge any wrongdoing or take corrective steps to ensure that such conduct ceases.

The judge said these failures lead to the irresistible inference that the officials are acting in accordance with the instructions or policies adopted by those responsible for the governance of the organisation.

It was found the union has adopted the attitude that it will not comply with any legislative constraints, placed on its operations, with which it disagrees.  Such an approach is an anathema in a democratic society.

Read the ABCC’s statement here.

Maximum penalty for CFMMEU as judge calls for de-registration

The Full Federal Court has upheld an earlier decision of the Federal Circuit Court to impose maximum penalties on the CFMMEU for the unlawful conduct in February 2015 of its then Queensland President Dave Hanna.

In October 2017 the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane imposed the maximum penalty of $306,000 on the CFMMEU following Mr Hanna contravening right of entry laws at a Fortitude Valley construction site and threatening to bury a mobile phone down a site manager’s throat.

At the time of the incident Mr Hanna refused to leave the site, squirted water in the face of the site manager and at his mobile phone and stated: “Take that phone away or I’ll f***ing bury it down your throat…”

At the time of the 2017 judgment Judge Vasta stated that: “It can only be inferred that the (CFMMEU) condone such actions.”. The Judge went on to describe the CFMMEU as “the most recidivist corporate offender in Australian history”.

The decision cited around 120 previous occasions over the past 10 years that the courts had sanctioned the CFMMEU for contraventions of industrial laws.

Following the CFMMEU appealing the decision, the Full Federal Court upheld the seriousness of the union’s conduct by imposing the maximum penalty of $51,000 for all six contraventions – a total of $306,000.

Justice Tracey in his judgment said the contravening conduct has continued unabated to a point where there is an irresistible inference that the CFMMEU has determined that its officials will not comply with the requirements of the FW Act with which it disagrees.

“If this results in civil penalties being imposed they will be paid and treated as the cost of the union pursuing its industrial ends. The union simply regards itself as free to disobey the law,” the judge said.

Justice Logan in his comments likened the CFMMEU’s unlawful behaviour to that of the deregistered BLF.

“The present case … provoke, strongly, the thought that there is a persistence within the (CFMMEU) of the former Australian Building Construction Employees’ and Builders Labourers’ Federation (the BLF),” the judge stated.

“… an organisation which manifests an inability by its internal governance to rein in aberrant behaviour cannot expect to remain registered in its existing form.”

Minister for Small and Family Business, the Workplace and Deregulation Craig Laundy used the case to call on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to cut his ties with the law-breaking CFMMEU.

Mr Laundy’s comments come after the Federal Court issued two more damning judgements against the CFMMEU, whacking the union and its leaders for repeated law-breaking and calling for it to be de-registered.

Total fines against the militant union now total almost $16 million.

“Former PM and ACTU boss Bob Hawke is among the Labor luminaries to urge Bill Shorten to cut his ties with the CFMMEU, yet he refuses to listen,” Mr Laundy said.

“Even though he aspires to be the country’s most senior lawmaker, the Opposition Leader continues to turn a blind eye to the CFMMEU’s culture of lawlessness, because he’s indebted to the union for his own job.

“Australia has some of the world’s highest housing and construction costs in the world and that’s the price working families have to pay because Bill Shorten thinks it’s okay for the CFMMEU to keep breaking laws it doesn’t agree with.”

Right of entry flouting costs union $245,500

The CFMMEU and an official have been penalised for contravening right of entry laws in Tasmania.

The Federal Court handed down penalties totalling $245,500 in the two cases involving the CFMMEU and its official Richard Hassett.

The CFMMEU was penalised $220,000 and Mr Hassett $25,500 following two cases launched by the ABCC in 2016 and 2017.

Both cases relate to contraventions of right of entry laws by Mr Hassett on the $21.8 million Brooker Highway Project in Hobart in October 2016 and on the Parliament Square Stage 1A project site on multiple occasions in 2015.

At the time of the entry on the Brooker Highway site, Mr Hassett used abusive language, calling a human resource manager a “… f**king incompetent c*nt” and threatening to close the site down.

Justice Tracey in his 20 July 2018 judgment found the claim by Mr Hassett that he was at the site to deal with safety issues was: “…both a falsehood and contrivance.”

In the other case, Mr Hassett entered the Parliament Square Stage 1A project site without providing an entry notice.

When the site foreman told Mr Hassett he could not talk to the workers as it was not break time, Mr Hassett replied “You can’t f**king stop me.”

The Tasmanian Police had to be called on one occasion on 5 November 2015.

Read the full ABCC statement here.

These cases highlight why it is crucial the ABCC remains in place to ensure building and construction industry participants’ compliance with Australia’s workplace laws.

As a consistent supporter of the ABCC since it was first recommended by the Cole Royal Commission in 2003, AREEA recently provided input into a review of the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act 2016 (BCIIP Act), reiterating industry’s support for the regulator’s retention.

Further, AREEA continues to support the passage of the “Ensuring Integrity Bill“, which contains various measures seeking to lift the standards, behaviours and transparency of all registered organisations including trade unions and registered employer groups.

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