The ABCC, in opposing entry permits for CFMMEU maritime division leaders, is relying on the view that they fall within its jurisdiction because they are officials of a "building association".
The FWC has taken the rare step of revoking the entry permit of a CFMMEU official who aggressively swore at a subcontractor at a road construction site before asking if he was going to use the hammer he was carrying "to smash me".
The FWC has rebuked a union organiser for his "frankly inexplicable" failure to disclose in applying for a new right of entry permit that he had conditions imposed on previous ones.
In a significant ruling on how Fair Work Act breaches are to be assessed, a Federal Court full bench has invoked double jeopardy principles to strip $48,000 off penalties awarded against the CFMMEU and one of its organisers.
The FWC has refused to renew MUA Sydney branch secretary Paul McAleer's entry permit, ruling that he has "repeatedly preferred the interests of his union and/or its members over compliance with industrial laws."
The Federal Court has closed a loophole under which union organisers maintained they could enter sites to discuss safety issues under state OHS laws without showing their federal entry permits.
Ahead of Federal Court hearings into ABCC claims that two CFMMEU officials breached entry laws at a Melbourne freeway project in 2017, the union is suing the head contractor and its IR manager for obstructing their efforts to investigate suspected safety breaches.
A judge has in imposing a penalty on the CFMMEU for a worksite shutdown described as "something of a fiction" any belief that such fines will deter the union from future contraventions.
The FWC has renewed CFMMEU maritime division national secretary Paddy Crumlin's entry permit, but only after closely scrutinising his involvement in two unlawful industrial actions still before the courts.
