The Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) has instituted proceedings against the CFMEU and three of its delegates over allegations of coercion at a Roche Mining (JR) Pty Ltd (RMJR) Mineral Sands Separation Plant (MSP) site near Hamilton in Victoria.
The ABCC alleges that in August 2005, a CFMEU delegate told a building contractor engaged at the site, that he must leave the site and he could only return when he became a member of the CFMEU and entered into an enterprise agreement with the CFMEU. The building contractor complied with the demands of the delegate.
In July 2006, RMJR employees and two CFMEU delegates stopped work and met with a RMJR construction manager and a RMJR construction superintendent in the crib hut. The CFMEU delegates told the construction manager and the construction superintendent that the employees would not leave the crib hut until the building contractor’s contract with RMJR was terminated and he left the site. This was despite the fact that the building contractor had become a CFMEU member. The building contractor was removed from the site.
The ABCC alleges these incidents amounted to a contravention of coercion provisions of the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII Act) and the coercion and false and misleading representation provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (WR Act).
Coercion is the act of applying pressure to force a party to move in a certain direction to make a certain decision. For more information see the ABCC’s Unlawful Coercion fact sheet.
While unable to comment specifically on this matter as it is before the court, Australian Building and Construction Commissioner John Lloyd said the ABCC would take action against any industry stakeholder that engaged in coercion or threats.
“Every building and construction industry stakeholder is free to join, or not join, a union without fear or threats of retribution.
“Unlawful activity, including coercion, will not be tolerated in the building and construction industry.
“The ABCC will continue to pursue its mission that workplace laws are upheld in the building and construction industry.”