CFMMEU’s Boral warning help, not a ‘threat’

Advice warning a Boral exec his trucks might have “trouble” accessing worksites was intended to help, a court has heard.

CFMMEU official John Setka and wife Emma Walters leaving Melbourne Magistrates Court. Picture: David Geraghty.

Advice from a powerful CFMMEU official warning a Boral executive that his concrete trucks might have “some trouble” accessing worksites was intended to be a help and not a threat, a court has heard.

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining, and Energy Union Victoria officials John Setka and Shaun Reardon have appeared at the Melbourne’s Magistrate Court for a committal hearing, on charges they blackmailed two Boral executives.

The men are accused of blackmailing Boral executives Paul Dalton and Peter Head during a meeting at a North Melbourne cafe in April 2013, allegedly threatening to blockade Boral plants and stop its trucks if the company refused to meet the union’s demands.

But the court heard this morning that conversations and notes exchanged between Mr Setka and Mr Reardon, and Boral executives Paul Dalton and Peter Head were misconstrued and never intended as threats against the business.

Boral executive general manager Paul Dalton took the stand today to answer questions about the 2013 cafe meeting with the two union officials, which the blackmail charges allegedly stem from.

While the April meeting was not discussed in detail during today’s hearing, the court heard how the officials in 2012 had contacted Mr Dalton regarding another blockade.

Mr Dalton confirmed the union officials warned him that Boral’s concrete agitator trucks might have “some trouble” accessing worksites, as a CFMMEU campaign against builder Grocon continued.

The court then heard how the officials had then suggested to Mr Dalton that he only send trucks carrying a Boral badge to worksites, rather than those with Grocon badges, so they could still be let through.

“Far from being a threat it was actually a helpful communication to you that Boral badged trucks wouldn’t be turned around?” Mr Setka’s defence counsel Neil Clelland said to Mr Dalton.

“I didn’t think it was helpful,” Mr Dalton responded.

Mr Clelland continued: “You were being told here’s a way through so there’s no inconvenience or difficulty to Boral making deliveries ... “

The conversations and alleged blackmail charges relate to a period of intense industrial action between the CFMMEU and builder Grocon, following a high profile wall collapse on the site and serious safety concerns by the union.

CFMMEU official Shaun Reardon. Picture: David Geraghty.

At the time, Boral’s concrete and building materials division, which Mr Dalton headed, was one of Grocon’s biggest suppliers.

It is alleged that the union officials targeted and threatened to carry out a “secondary boycott” on Boral, because they continued to supply materials to Grocon despite the CFMMEU’s concerns its sites weren’t safe.

The court also heard today how Boral’s trucks are occasionally branded with different builders’ logos according to the site or project they are deployed to.

Mr Setka, the Victorian head of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union has spent more than two years fighting Victoria Police’s decision to charge him and deputy Shaun Reardon with blackmail related to an industrial dispute.

Both Mr Setka and Mr Reardon face a single charge of blackmail, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.