On Friday the Federal Court imposed penalties totalling $63,000 on the CFMEU and its official John Parker. Both admitted to contravening the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII Act) by:
- threatening to take industrial action with the intent to coerce a builder to employ an apprentice in contravention of s43; and
- engaging in unlawful industrial action in contravention of s38.
Tracey J found that the contraventions were substantial and his penalty should act as a meaningful deterrent. He ordered the CFMEU to pay penalties of $20,000 and $35,000 and Mr Parker pay penalties of $2000 and $6000 for the respective breaches of s38 and s43 of the BCII Act.
The penalties imposed upon Mr Parker were fully suspended on the condition that he does not contravene a provision of the BCII Act or the Workplace Relations Act 1996 for a period of twelve months.
In his judgement, Justice Tracey said the timing of the overtime ban, being just before a significant concrete pour was deliberate and was intended to confront Hooker Cockram with the prospect of significant disruption to work on the project. He further concluded that:
“No apology has been given to Hooker Cockram …There is no evidence of any regret, contrition or remorse on the part of the CFMEU or Parker.”
ABC Commissioner John Lloyd made the following statement in respect of the judgement:
“It is a contravention of the law to coerce a building contractor to employ a particular person. This practice does occur and all in the industry need to recognise that it is unlawful and can involve exposure to substantial penalties”.