The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) has taken Court action against the CFMMEU and seven of its officials alleging the union mounted a concerted campaign to coerce a Victorian building company to make a CFMMEU enterprise agreement.
The ABCC is alleging the union’s campaign in 2021 saw CFMMEU officials attending the contractor’s worksites, one being in Croydon, on most workdays over a three-month period, often remaining on site throughout the day.
During that time union officials issued 400 right of entry notices and caused wide-scale disruption to work on the contractor’s projects. In the 18 months prior to the campaign, the CFMMEU had only issued 40 right of entry notices to the company. That number was exceeded within the first two days of the union’s campaign.
Comments made during and after the campaign indicated that the CFMMEU wanted the contractor to make an enterprise agreement. After a meeting between the contractor and the CFMMEU during which the union explained why they wanted the contractor to sign up, there was a “cease-fire” to allow the contractor to consider agreeing to make an enterprise agreement.
The ABCC’s Statement of Claim alleges throughout March, April and May last year, CFMMEU officials contravened right of entry laws at a residential apartment project in Croydon, an Alphington construction project and Collingwood hotel/apartment project.
The incidents at the Croydon site were most frequent, with officials allegedly entering the project at the rear gate despite signage indicating ‘authorised personnel’ only, remaining in a ‘no go’ zone frequently used by trucks, restricting excavators from operating, refusing to leave when asked and accessing a computer without permission where photos of its content were taken.
The ABCC is alleging the union’s campaign was unlawful, illegitimate and unconscionable, due to the high volume of entry notices, wide-scale disruption and the mental health impact on employees and was in breach of sections 499 and 500 of the Fair Work Act 2009.
It is also alleging that by organising and engaging in the campaign with the intent to coerce or apply undue pressure to the company to agree to make a building enterprise agreement, the CFMMEU contravened s.54 of the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act 2016 (BCIIP Act).
The maximum penalty for a contravention of the Fair Work Act is $66,600 for a body corporate and $13,320 for an individual. The maximum penalty per contravention under the BCIIP Act is $222,000 for a body corporate and $44,400 for an individual.
The ABCC is seeking personal payment orders against all seven named CFMMEU officials involved and will submit that Court imposed penalties be paid personally by the officials and not be paid or reimbursed directly or indirectly by the CFMMEU or through crowd funding.
Star Mail contacted the CFMMEU for comment without response.
