The Federal Magistrates Court this week ordered the CFMEU and two of its organisers to pay $46,860 in penalties for organising an unlawful strike on the Gold Coast University Hospital project.
The project is valued at $1.76bn and involves 108 subcontractors. The November 2009 strike meant that no work was carried out on the project for approximately two days.
ABC Commissioner Leigh Johns said the hefty penalties reflected the seriousness of the breach.
“This major public project was interrupted at a critical stage of its development,” ABC Commissioner Johns said.
“It is taxpayers and CFMEU members who pay the price for this type of undisciplined behaviour from CFMEU organisers.
“This $46,860 penalty could have been avoided if the officials had simply complied with the law and followed the dispute resolution procedures outlined in the enterprise agreement the union itself negotiated.”
CFMEU organisers Tim Jarvis and Andrew Temoho attended the site on 26 November 2009, without giving notice as required by law. They spoke to workers on the site including employees of the head contractor, Bovis Lend Lease (BLL), and a subcontractor, Heinrich Constructions Pty Ltd.
Mr Jarvis and Mr Temoho held a mass meeting and told workers that BLL had withheld entitlements from employees of another subcontractor working on other sites. The workers voted to stop work until 30 November 2009 in protest.
In an agreed statement of facts presented to the court, the organisers admitted to having breached s38 of the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 by taking unlawful industrial action. The CFMEU agreed to pay penalties of $36,300, Mr Jarvis agreed to pay $7260 and Mr Temoho agreed to pay $3300.
Federal Magistrate Burnett stated in his judgement “The CFMEU needs to review its enterprise risk management procedures to bring this type of behaviour within the control of those who manage the union.”
ABC Commissioner Johns noted that the ABCC investigates more than 200 cases of unlawful industrial action every year, accounting for a quarter of all investigations.
“Every productive work day lost to industrial disputes is one day too many,” he said.
“All workplace agreements contain procedures to resolve disputes fairly. My advice to employers, employees and union officials is to use them.
“The ABCC continues to encourage employers, employees and unions from the construction industry to contact us for help understanding their workplace rights and obligations.”