CFMEU hit with record penalties over unlawful strike in 2014

The militant CFMEU and senior officials ordered to pay massive fines after showing “a complete disregard for the law” during an illegal strike.

The CFMEU has been hit with record penalties over industrial action in 2014. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The full Federal Court has imposed a record $1.7 million in penalties on the construction union, cutting the original $2.4 million in penalties ordered by a judge for unlawful action by 1000 workers at the Barangaroo site in Sydney.

Ruling on a union appeal, the full court imposed a $1.007 million in penalties on the federal construction union and $510,000 in penalties on its NSW branch. Nine officials were penalised a combined $189,000 for the two days of industrial action in 2014.

The Australian Building and Construction Commission said the $1.7 million in penalties was the highest obtained by the ABCC in an action against the Construction, Forestry, Maritime Mining and Energy Union.

Dave Noonan, the national secretary of the CFMEU’s construction division, hit out at the penalty.

“Grocon pleaded guilty to criminal acts leading to the deaths of three people and was fined $250,000,’’ Mr Noonan said.

“The unions had been found to have breached civil provisions, by having a 24-hour stoppage to defend a delegate, and is fined $1.7 million. The laws are rotten and need to be changed.”

ABCC commissioner Stephen McBurney said the “the level of abuse and intimidation directed against workers, public servants and police officers just doing their jobs, demonstrated a complete disregard for the law,” by the union and its officials.

The judgment came as the ABCC launched legal action against the Australian Workers Union and 53 workers for attending an ACTU rally last year and taking subsequent industrial action.

The Full Court today ordered the CFMEU’s national office to pay 75 per cent of the maximum penalties available and its NSW branch to pay 40 per cent.

Former NSW state secretary Brian Parker was fined $45,400, former union official Luke Collier fined $40,400 and union officials Robert Kera and Danny Reeves fined $41,250 and $41,000. Another five individuals were fined a combined total of $21,000.

The Federal Court previously found the CFMEU forced a shutdown of the site in support of their union delegate Peter Genovese who had been suspended from his employment after incidents of throwing a punch at a site manager and threatening to “kill” him.

Justice Geoffrey Flick said Mr Parker and other senior officials led industrial action involving more than 1,000 workers which shut down the site on 24 and 25 July 2014.

The Federal Court found workers who attempted to enter the site were abused by CFMEU officials and called “scum” and “dogs”. A policewoman at the site described how Mr Parker “made sure that I was feeling either intimidated or scared”.

CFMEU NSW Assistant State Secretary Robert Kera was heard describing government Inspectors as “f..king dogs”. Union organiser Luke Collier was also found to have deliberately read out an Inspector’s mobile telephone number during an address to workers. He told the Inspector: “you’re a f..king grub” and “you’re lower than a paedophile you grub”.

In today’s judgment, the Full Court found: “This was large scale, planned and skilfully executed illegal industrial activity, carried out by combined actions to maximise the prospects of success.

The full court said the CFMEU required “greater deterrence” because of its “intractable behaviour” and “substantial contravening history”.