Hobart CFMMEU bosses cop huge fines for illegally barging into worksite and abusing management

Two of Hobart’s top union bosses have been stung with massive fines for flouting workplace laws, with a Federal Court judge launching a blistering attack on their “recidivist” organisation.

• Union official fined over workplace breaches, including climbing a crane and yelling expletives
• UPDATED: Fairbrother employees laid off as projects dry up

TWO Hobart union officials have copped massive fines after one of them illegally barged in to a worksite, the other verbally abused and intimated management – and one of them even flicked the power off, leaving them all in the dark before police were called.

On Thursday, the Federal Court fined the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union $185,000 for contraventions of the Fair Work Act.

Justice David O’Callaghan also fined Richard Hassett $20,000 and Kevin Harkins $16,000, additionally ruling Mr Hassett couldn’t get his employer to pay on his behalf.

Richard Hassett. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

The judge slammed the union as a “recidivist offender” of workplace laws and condemned Mr Hassett’s “flagrant” behaviour as well as his long history of flouting industrial laws.

According to the judgment, Mr Hassett entered the Vos Construction and Joinery construction site at 80 Elizabeth St, Hobart on May 23 and 28 last year without holding the appropriate permits.

On the first occasion, he walked in unsupervised through the construction area, spoke with workers and took video footage on his mobile phone before telling staff they had electrical and asbestos problems that they needed to fix, or the union would “shut down the site”.

He returned on May 28 and when told he couldn’t be there, replied “I can whatever I f...ing like”.

Mr Harkins was also in attendance on that visit, and acted in a “loud and intimidating manner” towards the site foreman when he was asked what equipment was unsafe by saying, “don’t get smart with me, a...hole. I’m nearly at the end of my career. I don’t give a f... about what happens to me”.

Kevin Harkins. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

When he was requested to identify safety breaches, Mr Harkins said: “you don’t f...ing

pay me, so I’m not going to tell you”, and also told the site project manager to “get f...ed” when asked to leave.

One of the men then also turned off the power, causing all the lights in the area to switch off.

The police were called on the two union officials.

Justice O’Callaghan said Mr Hassett would have known he was acting unlawfully by entering the site in those circumstances.

The development site. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

He detailed Mr Hassett’s history of prior contraventions including occasions where he directed “unnecessary and gratuitous abuse to site management”, failed to comply with reasonable safety requests on-site, and even climbed on a crane while it was in operation and caused work to stop, and used abusive language while he was doing so.

He said Mr Harkins had only contravened industrial law on one prior occasion, 13 years ago.

“It is, nowadays, a notorious fact that the CFMMEU is a well-resourced, recidivist offender of

workplace laws,” Justice O’Callaghan said.

“According to the unchallenged submission of the applicant, the CFMMEU (nationally) has

contravened industrial legislation more than 170 times in the two decades prior to the conduct that gave rise to this proceeding, and as this court has said on many occasions, the union regards paying penalties as part of ‘doing business’.”

Follow @ambervwilson

Originally published as Hobart CFMMEU bosses cop huge fines for illegally barging into worksite and abusing management