THE construction union has been fined a total of $271,500 after two of its officials refused to show right of entry permits and acting in an abusive way while on the Ulumbarra Theatre construction site in 2014.
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The Federal Court found the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union and officials Alex Tadic and Nigel Davies acted improperly while on the building site on July 22 and 29.
The CFMMEU was fined $245,000 on Tuesday, Mr Davies was fined $19,000 and Mr Tadic was fined $7500, however the court ruled the union could foot the bill for both men.
The offences occurred while Mr Davies and Mr Tadic were attempting to inspect scaffolding at the building site which had allegedly not been signed off by a licensed person.
Mr Davies told project manager Simon Ireland to “f--- off” when asked to produce an entry permit. He produced the permit when police arrived at the scene.
On another occasion one week later, Mr Tadic used expletives towards the project manager and told him he was “not dealing with a f---ing pen pusher”. The two men did not show their entry permits on this occasion either.
They allegedly observed poor lighting for workers from a fly tower.
In making his ruling, Federal Court Justice Richard Tracey said the two men could have “easily” produced the permits because they were in his possession at the time, but he chose not to.
He found that Mr Davies had “determined” that he would not comply with requests.
Justice Tracey said the CFFMEU had decided it would not comply with “legislative constraints” placed on its operations.
“The CFMEU has failed to acknowledge any wrongdoing or take corrective steps to ensure that such conduct ceases,” he said.
“These failures lead to the irresistible inference that the officials are acting in accordance with the instructions or policies adopted by those responsible for the governance of the organisation.
“Such an approach is an anathema in a democratic society.”
The action was brought to court by the building industry regulator, Fair Work Building and Construction, which has since become the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
The ABCC, a statutory authority, was established by the Howard Government in 2005, scrapped by the Gillard Government in 2012, before it was re-established by the Abbott Government in 2016.
Labor sees its existence as a Coalition attempt to limit the collective power of the CFFMEU, while the Coalition believes the workplace regulator stops unlawful union activity.
The ABCC was scrapped by Labor in 2012 after it threatened jail time against an Adelaide construction worker, Ark Tribe, who organised an unsanctioned health and safety meeting at a building site using the back of a paper towel.
Australian Building and Construction commissioner Stephen McBurney said the CFFMEU had chosen to pay penalties “at a cost of pursuing its industrial ends” and condemned the actions of the two men on the Ulumbarra site.
“The union officials, rather than simply producing their entry permits when asked to do so opted to engage in abusive and threatening behaviour,” he said.