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Union’s appeal fails after coercion penalties

The Full Federal Court last week largely dismissed the CFMMEU’s appeal against $313,000 in penalties handed down to the union and seven of its officers for unlawful conduct against concrete companies in Sydney.

Only three out of 15 appeal grounds were upheld in the decision relating to penalties imposed in the October 2018 BKH judgment.

It follows a November 2018 decision in which the Federal Court fined the union and its officials for pay penalties of $313,000 for their unlawful conduct at construction sites in Sydney in 2014 and 2015.

The Federal Court found the CFMMEU and senior officers, including former NSW State Secretary Brian Parker; Assistant State Secretary Robert Kera and organiser Luke Collier took action against a group of concreting companies to coerce them to make an enterprise agreement with the union.

The Full Court considered the conduct of Mr Collier.  following CFMMEU arguing the declarations and penalty orders against  him and the CFMMEU should be set aside.

The Full Court noted:

  • Mr Collier disrupted a concrete pour at the Rhodes site on 11 March 2015
  • Used CFMMEU cars to block access to the site
  • 30 concrete trucks were scheduled to deliver 220 cubic metres of concrete
  • The end result was that a significant part of the concrete had to be jackhammered out and re-poured.

The Full Court noted the primary judge’s finding that there were no genuine safety concerns to justify the union’s conduct on that day.

The penalties imposed on Mr Collier, Mr Kera, Mr Parker, Mr Razgahi, Mr Greenfield, Mr Manna, Mr Garvey and the CFMMEU have been affirmed by the Full Court.

This case highlights the important work of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) as it continues active investigation and prosecution of workplace law breaches, highlighting its important role in upholding compliance.

AREEA has long supported passage of the Ensuring Integrity Bill since it was first introduced in 2017. It remains one of eight workplace reform priorities identified for the 46th Parliament in AREEA’s policy booklet Pathway to Productivity.

AREEA will continue to advocate for the important measures within the Ensuring Integrity Bill that will considerably improve our nation’s industrial relations environment and promote greater compliance with industrial laws.

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