The Federal Court in Perth has imposed penalties on the CFMEU, the Western Australian branch’s assistant secretary, Joseph McDonald and organiser Michael Buchan after they admitted engaging in unlawful industrial action.
In a Statement of Agreed Fact, the CFMEU, Mr McDonald and Mr Buchan acknowledged their involvement in an unlawful strike at a high-rise construction project in the Perth CBD.
The Court ordered the CFMEU pay a penalty of $120,000, Mr McDonald $17,000 and Mr Buchan $13,000 for their involvement in the five days’ strike action in June 2009.
His Honour Justice Gilmour also ordered that the CFMEU pay the head contractor at the project, Diploma Constructions (WA) Pty Ltd, compensation totalling $97,695, and the ABCC’s costs.
The Court found the CFMEU, Mr McDonald and Mr Buchan visited the Diploma site and counselled employees of nine contractors to stop work for a three day period between 5 and 9 June 2009.
On 24 and 25 June 2009, Mr McDonald held a further meeting on the street outside the site and spoke with employees of contractors. Employees of subcontractors engaged in unlawful industrial action and failed to perform work on those days.
On 23 December 2009, the Federal Court imposed an injunction restraining the CFMEU, Mr McDonald and Mr Buchan from engaging in further unlawful conduct at Diploma sites in Western Australia. In handing down judgment on the CFMEU’s unsuccessful appeal of the injunction, Gilmour J stated:
"There is no substantive right to engage in illegal conduct. Whilst the injunction
protects the interests of Diploma it is in the nature of a statutory injunction in the
public interest in proceedings brought by the ABCC in its statutory capacity in aid
of the main object found in ... the BCII Act, which is to provide an improved
workplace relations framework for building work to ensure that building work is
carried out fairly, efficiently and productively for the benefit of all building industry
participants and for the benefit of the Australian economy as a whole."
The ABCC has a further six matters involving Mr McDonald and the CFMEU in Western Australia before the courts.