CFMEU official booted from worksites after Fair Work Commission ruling

A senior CFMEU official charged with threatening to kill an owner of an Indigenous labour hire company will be prevented from entering construction sites after the Fair Work Commission rejected the union’s plea that he keep his right of entry permit.

FWC deputy president Alan Colman found Joel Shackleton, 40, failed the “fit and proper person” test required for a permit that allows union officials to exercise industrial rights on projects.

CFMEU official Joel Shackleton has been charged with making threats to kill.Credit: Facebook

Thursday’s decision came after this masthead in July published a video of Shackleton allegedly abusing another man on a taxpayer-funded project. Shackleton was later charged over the incident, with police alleging he threatened the owners of an Indigenous labour hire company.

A second man captured in the footage, CFMEU official Gerry McCrudden, had his right of entry permit renewed in May and still holds it despite the Federal Court’s June finding he had behaved unlawfully.

McCrudden is heard on the video telling the owners of the labour hire company that the CFMEU had agreements with top builders that would mean they could not win work on large projects.

Detectives from Victoria Police’s financial crime squad charged Shackleton this month as part of an investigation into the alleged threats.

Shackleton stands accused of making threats to kill and making threats to inflict serious injury, offences which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

They were the first criminal charges laid after the Building Bad investigation by this masthead, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes, which revealed allegations of violent threats, intimidation and underworld infiltration of the CFMEU.

The investigation published a video of Shackleton allegedly threatening to bash two owners of Indigenous labour hire firm Marda Dandhi, which was aligned with the rival Australian Workers’ Union.

The alleged threats were made at a Victorian government Big Build site run by civil contractor CPB in 2022.

Shackleton, who was later released on bail, was captured on video telling the two men “I’ll f---ing take your soul and rip your f---ing head off”.

In August, after the conduct on the video was publicly condemned, the CFMEU applied to the Fair Work Commission to extend Shackleton’s entry permit period past its September 15 expiry date, pending a determination of an application for a new permanent permit.

In his judgment, Colman noted that while Shackleton was entitled to a presumption of innocence in his criminal matter, and intends to plead not guilty, the allegations were nonetheless serious. Shackleton has also since been temporarily suspended from his union position.

CFMEU organiser Gerry McCruddenCredit: CFMEU

“The CFMEU also advised the commission that on 6 September, 2024, Mr Shackleton was suspended from his employment with the CFMEU on full pay until 27 September, 2024,” Colman wrote.

“In my view, it is not appropriate to extend the period of an entry permit … when such serious charges against a permit holder remain unresolved.

“In these circumstances, I consider that Mr Shackleton should not be exercising entry rights unless the commission determines that he is a fit and proper person to hold a permit, based on the evidence and argument put before it in the application for a new permit.”

In July, Premier Jacinta Allan was asked whether McCrudden and Shackleton were still working on government projects. She said that was a matter for building contractors.

“It’s not acceptable for these sorts of people to be on worksites, it’s not acceptable for this type of behaviour,” Allan said at the time.

Former union boss John Setka resigned as secretary of the CFMEU’s Victorian and Tasmanian branch in July, before the federal government placed the union into administration in August.

The Commonwealth secured the passage of legislation that would allow a takeover of the union for up to three years. That move prompted tens of thousands of union members and supporters to march in cities across the country in protest against the federal government’s decision.

Administrator Mark Irving, KC, was appointed to run the CFMEU nationally and Grahame McCulloch, a long-time academics’ union boss, was appointed to take over the Victorian CFMEU branch, until McCulloch quit only weeks into the job.

Shackleton is due to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in November.

Irving and CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith have been contacted for comment.

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