The Federal Court has imposed penalties totaling $142,000 on the CFMMEU and three of its officials for engaging in coercive action at a Carlton building site in March 2015. The Court ordered the CFMMEU leadership pay $120,000 on the basis that senior CFMMEU leadership condoned the unlawful conduct.

In imposing the penalty, the Federal Court observed:

"the CFMMEU has an extensive history of prior contraventions of industrial laws" and that it "is so egregious as to enable an inference to be drawn that the senior leadership of the CFMMEU…condones the breach by its officers or employees of industrial laws...

An organisation faced with a litany of contraventions over an extended period of time, which repeatedly incurs not only significant financial penalties but also pointed judicial criticism, would necessarily put in place measures to change the cultural or normative conduct and the contravening behaviours of its officers and employees. Unless, of course, the senior leadership of the [CFMMEU] …condones such behaviour. I have satisfied that that is the position of the senior leadership …in Victoria."

In response to this another strong message from the Court to the senior leadership of the CFMMEU, ABCC Commissioner Stephen McBurney noted that:

“Workers should be free to earn their livelihood without being subjected to coercion by union officials undertaken in pursuit of the industrial objectives of the CFMMEU. The unlawful conduct in this case directly threatened the livelihood of the contractors and their workers.

The ABCC stands ready to assist any victim of unlawful conduct in the building and construction industry”.

Master Builders strongly supports the work of the ABCC and in particular Mr McBurney’s recognition of the direct financial impact such unlawful conduct can have on the victims – i.e. building industry contractors (the vast majority of which are small businesses) and their workers.