CFMEU, organiser Michael ‘Mick’ Myles fined $52,000
The CFMEU and one of its organisers have been fined $52,000 with a judge citing the union’s “woeful” history.
The construction union and one of its organisers have been fined $52,000 after a federal circuit court judge imposed the heavy penalties for unlawful industrial action, citing the union’s “woeful” history before the courts.
Michael ‘Mick’ Myles from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union instigated unlawful industrial action at the $60 million Queensland University of Technology Kelvin Grove project where he convened a meeting of workers in May 2014, the federal circuit court found.
After the meeting, Mr Myles approached the head contractor and demanded the site manager be stood down from the project for a day, according to the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate which brought the action.
When the head contractor refused to comply with the demand the workers who had attended the meeting failed to perform any work that day, the Inspectorate said.
In a decision handed down in the Federal Circuit Court earlier this month, Judge Michael Jarrett said “the sole purpose (of Myles’ actions) was to restrict the duties of the site manager — a single employee ... whose role it was to manage the QUT Project site.
“The stoppage caused delays, inconvenience and cost ... the action was calculated to do so, so that it had a coercive effect”.
Judge Jarrett also criticised the CFMEU’s prior record and noted Mr Myles had not been “reprimanded” by the CFMEU, “nor that the CFMEU has taken steps to insure that its officials and Mr Myles in particular will comply with their legal obligations in the future”.
“Neither Mr Myles nor the CFMEU have expressed any contrition for Mr Myles’ actions,” Judge
Jarrett added.
“The CFMEU’s history of unlawful industrial activity demands that the penalty imposed carries a very significant deterrent effect.
“I am conscious that I cannot and should not punish the CFMEU for its prior contravening conduct, but its woeful prior history demands that some attempt be made to deter future contraventions.”
FWBC Director Nigel Hadgkiss said the matter was “another example of the contempt for the rule of law in the building and construction industry”.
“Our agency is consistently dealing with cases where workplace laws are purposely ignored or
deliberately breached.
“No-one should have to work in environment where the laws that have been put in place to protect them are so willingly contravened by the same parties time and time again.”
Mr Myles was penalised $7,000 out of a maximum $10,800 for his conduct and the CFMEU was penalised $45,000 compared with a maximum $54,000.
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