The FWBC has dropped a substantial part of its case against NSW CFMEU leaders it is accusing of unlawfully entering a $65 million construction project based on "unfounded immigration and superannuation concerns".
CFMEU officials acted improperly when they entered a construction site under the guise of just "catching up" to have an informal "chat" with employees during their lunch breaks, a court has found.
An FWC full bench majority has overruled a presidential member's refusal to issue an entry permit to a CFMEU organiser, saying he set a "higher bar" than usual because of the union's adverse track record.
The FWBC has discontinued court action against the CFMEU and official Luke Collier over alleged entry breaches at a Sydney apartment development in 2014, conceding its "poor" chance of succeeding after a full Federal Court quashed a similar case.
An FWC full bench majority has upheld a decision to refuse a CFMEU organiser an entry permit while noting that the union failed to take up an opportunity to propose conditions.
The CFMEU and five of its officials have been fined $132,000 for "disrespectful" right of entry contraventions at three construction sites in Adelaide in 2014.
The FWC has knocked back an application for orders preventing three union officials entering the Ichthys LNG project, as well as the organisation of combined union meetings on site.
Right of entry permit holders can't hold discussions with employees in the workplace before or after work because it creates "uncertainty" around employee and employers' rights and obligations and increased the likelihood of disputes, the FWC has found.
The FWC has decried the "normalisation" of a culture of lawlessness within the CFMEU, in decisions refusing two officials' applications for entry permits after they failed the "fit and proper person" test, but granting entry rights to another organiser who allegedly threatened to start a Boral-style "war" against a major construction company.
Fortescue Metals Group has failed in a bid to block the CEPU from seeking a declaration that it unduly delayed entry to its WA branch secretary after a 2013 workplace fatality, with a court finding WA's non-harmonised OHS laws are no barrier to entering sites under the Fair Work Act.
