Building watchdog sues unionists for swearing

The Australian Building and Construction Commission is suing two building union officials for swearing during safety disputes.

The ABCC has launched two legal proceedings against construction union officials.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission has launched two legal proceedings against construction union officials for swearing during separate safety disputes on Queensland projects.

The ABCC alleges CFMEU official Blake Hynes called a general manager for subcontractor Enco a “f..king dog c..t” after entering the $512 million Logan Enhancement project in Brisbane last year.

In a second proceedings, the ABCC alleged CFMEU official Roland Cummins put his face centimetres away from a Queensland work health and safety officer during a disagreement on the Cairns Performing Arts Centre project, and repeatedly shouted “you’re a f..king dog”.

The ABCC is seeking a personal payment order against Mr Cummins over the incident. If successful, a personal payment order would prevent Mr Cummins from seeking or accepting funds from the CFMEU to pay any penalty imposed on him. The maximum penalty in both cases is $63,000 for a body corporate and $12,600 for an individual.

The union’s construction division national secretary, Dave Noonan, said the government agency was more concerned about swearing on building sites than people getting killed.

Union officials have been ­involved in safety disputes on both projects, with officials claiming the Logan project was a ­“catastrophic accident waiting to happen”.

A 19-tonne, 20-metre concrete slab collapsed last month, prompting a state government investigation. Union officials have raised fire safety concerns on the Cairns project.

The legal action came as federal Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer called on the wharfies and Hutchison Ports Australia to return to the bargaining table after the maritime union threatened industrial action from tomorrow.

Ms O’Dwyer said the government believed that industrial ­action should be taken only as a last resort.

Maritime union assistant nat­ional secretary Warren Smith said workers in Sydney and Brisbane would start imposing a range of work bans from tomorrow, including bans on overtime and higher duties.

Hutchison is trying to delay the action, and will seek orders at the Fair Work Commission today to require the union to give five days’ notice before it can take the industrial action.

Hutchison said wharfies at its Port Botany international container terminal in Sydney were paid on average $150,000 a year with superannuation and Port of Brisbane workers received $130,000 annually for an average working week of 30 to 33 hours.

Employees get 11 weeks off a year — five weeks’ annual leave and an extra rostered week off every eight weeks, up to 13 days’ sick leave, and 12 per cent super.

The company is seeking to slash pay rates by 10 per cent followed by a 12-month wage freeze; reduce the superannuation contribution to 9.5 per cent; and cut sick leave, redundancy and long-service entitlements.