CFMMEU described by judge as “rogue union” has near maximum penalties imposed for right of entry breaches at Brisbane’s QPAC project
The Federal Circuit and Family Court last week penalised the CFMMEU, its State Secretary Michael Ravbar and official Andrew Blakeley $138,528 after they breached right of entry laws at the Queensland Performing Arts Complex (QPAC) construction site in November 2020.
The penalty of $119,880 awarded against the CFMMEU is a near maximum penalty for its two contraventions of the Fair Work Act.
Mr Blakeley and Mr Ravbar admitted to acting in an improper manner in contravention of section 500 of the Fair Work Act at the QPAC site on 5 November 2020.
The officials:
- entered the site without providing the required 24 hours’ prior notice of entry required by the Fair Work Act and in direct contravention of requests of the head contractor’s representatives,
- failed to comply with the site’s occupational health and safety requirements that prohibited unauthorised access and required visitors to report to the site office,
- remained on the site in circumstances where they had no lawful basis to do so and despite being asked to leave and conducted an unauthorised meeting with workers on the site.
Mr Blakeley also facilitated entry onto the site by a group of 10 to 12 people who were not workers on the site and had not undertaken a site induction in circumstances where he knew that those people were not authorised to be on the site.
In assessing penalties against the CFMMEU, Judge Egan said:
…[T]he CFMMEU’s appalling and disgraceful record of established contraventions continues, unabashed and unabated. There can be no doubt that the CFMMEU is a rogue union untroubled by its ongoing bad behaviour. It seems that it prides itself on its recidivism.
Since 2 December 2016, the CFMMEU and its representatives have been found to have contravened Federal right of entry provisions 300 times in 38 cases, with a total of $4.1million in penalties imposed.
CEPU and delegate ordered to pay $52,000 for misrepresentations about union membership at Cairns Convention Centre redevelopment
The Federal Circuit and Family Court has penalised the CEPU $42,000 and its site delegate, Mitchell Brown, $10,000 after Mr Brown deliberately delayed workers at the Cairns Convention Centre redevelopment because they were not members of the union.
What was estimated to be a one-hour routine drilling task, as part of the $176 million centre expansion, took two days for the workers to complete due to repeated interruptions by Mr Brown and demands to stop work.
During his interactions with the workers over several days, Mr Brown repeatedly asked the workers to join the CEPU and said words to the effect of: “What are you doing? Why aren’t you part of the union?” and “By the end of this site you’ll be joining the union”.
Mr Brown targeted the two workers because they were not members of the CEPU.
In a meeting with the workers’ employer, Mr Brown said all workers at the site needed to join the union. The statement was false and an attempt to pressure the employer (and through him the two workers) to join the union.
The workers believed they needed to join the CEPU to ensure Brown would stop interfering with their work and on 8 September 2020 they joined the union, immediately reporting that they felt pressured to do so.
Federal Court penalises CFMMEU over right of entry contravention at Perth project site
The Federal Court has imposed penalties of $18,000 on the CFMMEU for the unlawful actions of its official Stephen Parker after he contravened federal right of entry laws at the NEXTDC P2 Perth Data Centre project on 5 December 2019.
The CFMMEU was found to have contravened section 500 of the Fair Work Act through the actions of Mr Parker when he refused to follow established right of entry protocols, including that he remain with an escort while on site. This was despite having been advised of these requirements during earlier visits.
In addition to entering and remaining on site while unescorted, Mr Parker positioned himself close to workers unloading doorframes from a truck and refused to move when repeatedly asked to do so.
As a result of his intrusive presence during the unloading, the workers were unable to lift the door frames straight off the vehicle and onto the ground and were required to move around Mr Parker and carry the frames for a longer distance.
AREEA supports the continued important work of the ABCC as it clamps down on union lawlessness. It will be a hot topic for the upcoming federal election, with Labor previously declaring it will abolish the ABCC if it wins government. To learn more and get involved in AREEA’s 2022 Federal Election campaign, contact [email protected]
