By Anna Patty
A dispute between the national construction workers union and Lend Lease was escalated to the Fair Work Commission on Monday on the eve of the royal commission into corrupt union activity.
The commission received submissions from both parties and will determine whether the complaint by Lend Lease will be heard by a full bench.
The national president of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, Dave Noonan, said Lend Lease had accused the union of breaching its right of entry to building sites.
"The company has sought a hearing by a full bench," Mr Noonan said.
"They are seeking to have a number of organisers prevented from talking to our members on Lend Lease sites.
"It's a very anti-union move by Lend Lease and it's apparent they have been embarrassed by the poor safety standards on their sites and want to hide behind high-paid lawyers."
However, Lend Lease has strongly rejected claims it has breached safety standards and has accused the union of using "baseless safety allegations" as part of an industrial campaign.
Mr Noonan said there would be a conciliation between both parties pending possible arbitration in the future if the issue remains unresolved.
The company is arguing the union has breached its right of entry provisions to building sites across the country since it announced a safety audit of all its sites last week.
Mr Noonan said the company gave its permission for the union to enter the University of Technology Sydney building site last week. He said there was a long list of safety breaches on the site, including failures in evacuation plans.
Fairfax understands Lend Lease rejected an initial request for entry to the Sydney site, but later allowed the union entry after discussions with management, police and Work Cover inspectors.
A spokeswoman for Lend Lease said the company respects "and will participate in, the process being undertaken by the Fair Work Commission".
Last week, the Victorian Supreme Court slapped the CFMEU with record fines and criminal convictions over its involvement in blockades of Grocon building sites in 2012.