CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

Maximum penalty call over blockade

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Original article by Charlie Peel
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Oct-18

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union faces a fine of up to $33,000 for each break of workplace laws arising from the blockading of Brisbane building sites in 2012. CFMMEU official Michael Ravbar in turn could be fined up to $6,600 for each breach. The Australian Building & Construction Commission has urged the Federal Court to impose the maximum penalty on Ravbar, while it is also seeking to have him banned from entering workplaces.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSAL CRANES PTY LTD

Fines a reminder of ACTU rally penalties

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 11-Oct-18

The Federal Court has fined 75 construction workers $1,400 apiece for engaging in unlawful industrial action in Perth in 2013. Stephen McBurney, the head of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, says the fines are a "timely reminder" of the consequences of breaching workplace laws. The ABCC recently warned that building workers who participate in upcoming union rallies without written approval from their employee could potentially be prosecuted.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, WORKPAC PTY LTD, SAS GROUP, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS

ABCC warns of union rally fines

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Oct-18

Work at building sites across Australia is likely to be disrupted by a series of protest rallies organised by the ACTU over the next month. However, the Australian Building & Construction Commission says building workers who participate in the rallies without written approval from their employee risk both having their pay docked and being prosecuted for unprotected industrial action. The penalty for such action is $42,00. Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker has also warned of the potential for legal action against unions and workers.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Regulator predicts pain for CFMEU

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Original article by Michael Pelly
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 31-Aug-18

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union was fined some $5.6m for breaching workplace laws in 2016-17, compared with just $1.8m in the previous financial year. Australian Building & Construction Commission head Stephen McBurney says the militant union could potentially face fines of more than $20m under the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act, which has significantly increased the maximum fines for both individuals and unions. The CFMMEU has been fined more than $1m for workplace breaches so far in 2018-19.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION

CFMEU faces cartel criminal charges

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 17-Aug-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has launched legal action against the construction union, alleging that its Australian Capital Territory branch engaged in cartel activity. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s ACT secretary Jason O’Mara has also been charged with cartel offences. He could face up to 10 years’ jail if convicted, while the CFMMEU could be fined up to $10 million or 10 per cent of its turnover. The charges arise from a joint investigation by the ACCC and an Australian Federal Police taskforce in the wake of the trade union royal commission.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Court blow for ABCC crusade on union fines

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 16-Aug-18

The Australian Building & Construction Commission has failed in its bid to have construction union official Alex Tadic personally pay a $7,500 fine for breaching workplace laws. Justice Richard Tracey said that courts can take into account whether a union official has consistently breached workplace laws in the past. He ruled that the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union should pay the fines of Tadic and another official. The union itself was fined $245,000.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

CFMEU should be deregistered: judges

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 15-Aug-18

The militant Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined more than $500,000 in two separate court rulings. The Federal Court rejected the union’s appeal against a fine of $306,000 imposed in 2017 over the conduct of its former Queensland president David Hanna. Justice John Logan criticised the CFMMEU’s poor track record regarding compliance with workplace laws and likened the union to its deregistered predecessor, the Builders Labourers Federation. The CFMMEU has also been fined $271,500 for breaching right-of-entry laws.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Apartment slowdown a risk to wider industry

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 39 : 8-Aug-18

Australia’s Performance of Construction Index recorded overall growth of 1.4 points to 52.0 in July, marking the sector’s 18th consecutive month of growth. However, the sub-index for attached housing declined by 11.7 points to 36.7, and Peter Burn of the Australian Industry Group says the downturn in activity in the apartment sector could have implications for the broader construction industry if it is sustained.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Unionist to face trial over documents claim

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Original article by Jared Owens
The Australian – Page: 2 : 3-Jul-18

Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union official Dave Hanna could face a fine of $A10,000 or up to two years in jail for obstructing the trade unions royal commission. It will be alleged that Hanna ordered the destruction of CFMEU documents at the union’s Brisbane headquarters in April 2014, on the same day that the royal commission advised the union that it was interested in viewing union documents dating as far back as 2007.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION, DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

Bid to sideline CFMEU falls at a legal hurdle

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 27-Jun-18

The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union has successfully challenged the use of a greenfields enterprise agreement by a CIMIC Group subsidiary. CPB, which was formerly known as Leighton, had struck a pay deal with the Australian Workers’ Union that sidelined the CFMEU. However, the full bench of the Fair Work Commission upheld the CFMEU’s appeal. The union’s Victorian president Ralph Edwards says CPB had attempted to misuse the greenfields provisions of the Fair Work Act to avoid renegotiating an existing enterprise agreement.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CIMIC GROUP LIMITED – ASX CIM, CPB, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION