The Federal court has ordered the CFMEU to pay a record $1 million in penalties for secondary boycotts against Boral in 2014. The alleged conduct stemmed from Boral continuing to supply Grocon during in the Myer Emporium blockade in 2012. This penalty, resulting from ACCC action, is in addition to the separate 2015 settlement between the Victorian CFMEU and Boral where the union agreed to pay Boral up to $9 million in damages and costs.

The Federal Court found that the CFMEU contravened section 45D(1) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) by engaging in conduct in concert with a shop steward at both sites which hindered or prevented the acquisition of concrete from Boral and its subsidiary Alsafe for the purpose of causing substantial loss or damage to Boral’s business.

In addition to ordering the CFMEU to pay a penalty of $500,000 for each of the two contraventions, Justice Middleton ordered the CFMEU to include practical training about section 45D of the CCA in each of its shop steward training courses in Victoria for five years.

In a release commenting on the decision, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said:

“This is the highest penalty ever awarded for a breach of the secondary boycott provisions. It signifies the seriousness with which the Court regarded the conduct”.

We commend the ACCC for the five years spent pursuing this outcome – and the strong message it sends the commercial construction industry from the competition regulator that secondary boycott action is illegal and will not be tolerated.