Diploma Constructions entered into an Australian Standard AS400-1997 contract with Primewest (Osborne Park) Pty Ltd for the construction of the Herdsman Business Park, being a four level 5000m2 office building with above-ground parking at 71 Walters Drive, Herdsman, Western Australia (Site).
At 7:15am on 25 February 2008, CFMEU WA assistant secretary Joe McDonald attended at the Site. Mr McDonald made certain representations about the requirements of employees on Site to become members of an industrial association, namely the CFMEU. Mr McDonald addressed a meeting of workers and following that meeting, workers remained off Site for the remainder of the day.
During the meeting, Mr McDonald said the site was going to be closed down because there were not enough amenities or toilets and the scaffolding was not safe.
The ABCC alleges that Mr McDonald and CFMEU contravened:
- Section 38 of the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII Act) by engaging in unlawful industrial action when they instructed the workers to stop work.
- Section 790(1) of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WR Act) by making false and misleading statements that the workers were obliged to be members of the union.
- Section 789 of the WR Act by attempting to coerce a person to become a member of the union.
- Section 791 of the WR Act by taking industrial action on the grounds that some workers on the site were not members of the union.