CFMEU faces three federal courts in one day over intimidation allegations

The beleaguered CFMEU faced three different federal courts on Thursday over separate allegations of intimidation, bullying, abuse and death threats in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.

Over the past week, allegations of criminal infiltration, kickback offers and corruption within the powerful Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union have dogged members and plagued the labour movement across Australia.

Workers at the West Gate Tunnel project in 2020.Credit: Joe Armao

On Thursday, three courts heard allegations against the union about the behaviour of officials on work sites.

In Victoria, the CFMEU was fined $150,000 and slammed by Justice John Snaden for “hostile mistreatment and belligerence” after two officials held up construction on the West Gate Tunnel project, forcing police to be called and extending a partial closure of the West Gate Freeway.

Snaden fined the construction union and official Paul Tzimas a combined $168,000 after he and fellow official Ronnie Buckley climbed on top of a temporary scaffold deck, stopping construction giant John Holland for more than 6½ hours when installing five bridge beams in December 2019.

Enterprise bargaining agreements struck as part of the West Gate Tunnel project – part of Victoria’s $100 billion Big Build infrastructure program – are set to be probed after revelations that bikies and criminals were acting as union delegates and union-friendly firms were being pushed onto building sites in exchange for kickbacks for CFMEU officials.

In the Federal Court on Thursday, Snaden said it was plain that the CFMEU required further incentive to rein in “the sorts of hostile mistreatment and belligerence that seems far too commonly committed in its name”.

“There is no possible justification for the conduct in which they engaged; and yet each felt licensed to obstruct the performance of work, and to bully and abuse those who sought to persuade them not to, including independent third parties who were unwittingly called upon to deploy their expertise in a difficult situation in the middle of the night.”

The court heard that Tzimas and Buckley lawfully entered the site just after 9.30pm on December 3, using their right-of-entry permits to perform safety checks, but quickly began remonstrating with site staff before standing on the deck so that the beams couldn’t be placed.

They refused to come down until they were presented with safety plans.

More than six hours later, after WorkSafe Victoria advised there “was no immediate safety risk and that the site was safe”, a team of police told them they would be arrested if they did not come down. They finally left at 2.20am.

Tzimas and Buckley entered the site at a crucial time for the project. The Fair Work Ombudsman told the court that the overnight lifting and installation of the five bridge beams was time-sensitive work that involved closing down part of the busy West Gate Freeway.

Snaden said that Tzimas displayed hostility towards WorkSafe inspector Quinton Drury when he did not share Tzimas’ assessment that the site was unsafe.

Tzimas told Drury: “If you want to be a lapdog to John Holland and to get the works done, without addressing the issues, that’s up to you.

“Right. So why won’t you conduct the inspection? Because you’re corrupt; that’s why … [It] exposes you for your incompetence … you’re a disgrace.”

Tzimas then directed abuse towards members of Victoria Police, saying “[you are a] disgrace. Absolute disgrace”, and “you’re acting as a lapdog for John Holland, denying us our rights to represent our workers”.

In Western Australia, the maritime division faced prosecution from the Fair Work Ombudsman over allegations union members made death threats against workers who tried to cross a picket line in Fremantle.

The case relates to part of the Maritime Union of Australia’s industrial campaign against stevedore Qube over a disagreement about rosters.

The MUA undertook strike action for three months in Fremantle last year.Credit: Cameron Myles

It is alleged that former WA boss Christy Cain and colleague Will Tracey attended the picket from time to time, encouraging the behaviour, as did former Victorian boss John Setka and national secretary David Noonan, who participated virtually, the AFR reported.

The court heard on Thursday that a worker who crossed the picket line was told by union members that if he kept working, he would “end up being killed”.

He said that one man whispered to him “I’ll kill ya”, and that “they then continued to tell me to think about what this might do to my family”, court documents say.

The court also heard that one man threatened the victim by making a gun hand gesture.

In Queensland, a site supervisor on the Cross River Rail project has told the Federal Court he was made to feel uncomfortable crossing a CFMEU picket line this week.

The court was played CCTV footage of three concrete trucks being turned away at one worksite, which lead contractor CPB claimed came with a threat of the company being “blackballed in Queensland”.

The supervisor is employed by CPB, which is seeking an injunction to halt the CFMEU’s industrial action on the project.

Giving evidence on Thursday morning, the supervisor said he and three others were confronted by eight men wearing black CFMEU hoodies at the Albert Street worksite on Tuesday morning.

The supervisor said their arrival was recorded by the men, one of whom said: “You’re not going to cross the picket line – stand with your brothers and sisters.”

The supervisor said he did not know the men, and later heard a rumour one was from Melbourne.

“It makes you feel uncomfortable,” the supervisor told the hearing before Justice Berna Collier.

The court has also heard evidence of other workers being filmed at the picket line.

Collier was set to decide overnight whether CFMEU representatives should be banned from recording workers crossing the picket line and whether a 15-metre cordon should be imposed around entry and exit points.

Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter here.