CFMEU and officials fined for abusing staff at Yatala Labour Prison construction site in 2021

Three CFMEU officials and their union have been fined nearly $250,000 for misconduct during visits to a Yatala Labour Prison construction site.

Three CFMEU officials and their union have been fined nearly $250,000 after they abused staff and ignored safety directions during visits to a Yatala Labour Prison construction site.

The union and officials Wyatt Raymount, Travis Brook and Desmond Savage breached the Fair Work Act multiple times in the space of a week in August-September 2021.

Several of the breaches involved abuse of staff employed by Mossop Group, which had been selected by the state government as head contractor for a $123m upgrade to Yatala.

A Federal Court judgement said Mr Raymount and Mr Brook on August 30 visited the site and raised a number of safety issues that were either addressed immediately or noted, including a faulty electrical board, missing handrails and the absence of certain signage.

During that visit, Mr Raymount told Mossop staff “you’re useless”, “you’re incompetent”, “you’re trying to kill people” and “you’re s*** at your job”.

He also said “the whole site is a death trap. I wouldn’t bother going back to work because there’s no point” and “you are f**king useless at your job, I can’t believe you call yourself a professional, you should be ashamed”.

The following day, Mr Raymount and Mr Brook returned to the site and entered an exclusion zone after they had been requested to stay away. They remained in the exclusion zone – where welding work was taking place – for no longer than 20 seconds.

Then, on September 2, Mr Raymount and Mr Savage visited the site and Mr Savage threatened Mossop’s safety supervisor by saying “the more you call your mates, the more I’ll come down on you”.

The judgement, handed down this month, found “your mates” was a reference to the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC).

CFMEU officials Wyatt Raymount, Travis Brook and Desmond Savage were found to have breached the Fair Work Act multiple times in the space of a week in August-September 2021. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Later that morning, as the same safety supervisor was in his car, Mr Raymount told him “you shouldn’t be making complaints. When there is a complaint, there’s normally an investigation, there’s a possibility of fines. That’s not just for Mossop that’s for you personally”.

The supervisor responded “sorry mate I won’t be threatened at work, nobody deserves that”, before Mr Raymount said “come on mate, don’t be a c***”.

The matter went to trial but the union and officials later admitted to a total 10 contraventions.

The court found they had acted improperly by making abusive, derogatory and offensive statements to Mossop representatives, and by entering an exclusion zone against instructions.

It also found the union has “an extraordinary history of prior contravening conduct”, and deterrence was a significant factor in deciding the penalty.

The CFMEU was ordered to pay $213,840, while Mr Raymount was personally fined $18,900, Mr Brook fined $7200 and Mr Savage fined $7600. Only Mr Brook is still a CFMEU official.

The prosecution was started by the ABCC but finished by the Fair Work Ombudsman after the ABCC was abolished by the federal government.

Ombudsman Anna Booth said the penalties affirmed the seriousness of breaching laws for permit holders.

“There is no place for threatening behaviour, adverse action or improper conduct by permit holders on any worksite,” she said.