The FWC has suspended the entry permit of a CFMMEU organiser held to have flagrantly abused his power and urged workers to drive into him while he claimed to be responding to safety concerns, with another official also facing the temporary loss of his permit.
A CFMMEU organiser who failed to undertake "targeted" training on his rights and obligations until more than two years after the ABCC accused him of multiple breaches has had his entry permit suspended for three months.
The High Court has today unanimously ruled that judges can take into account the CFMMEU's history of contraventions when assessing fines for breaches of industrial laws, clearing the way for the ABCC to seek maximum penalties for relatively minor infractions.
A full Federal Court has halved fines imposed on the CFMMEU and one of its officials after finding that the evidence in the ABCC's "factually confused" case failed to establish that an official pushed over a project manager during an entry dispute.
Provisional wage review timetable approved; Secure jobs inquiry queries witness treatment; New FWC website to launch this weekend; Permit suspended after underwhelming case; Productivity Inquiry gets underway; Labour Hire Authority thwarts "phoenixing"; and Feedback sought on online hearings.
A FWC full bench has warned the ABCC it is a "misuse" of power to raise appeal grounds contrary to its initial position, while rejecting the construction watchdog's claim the tribunal must consider a need for general deterrence when deciding whether to suspend or revoke entry permits.
A court has today imposed fines of 90% of the maximum on the "rogue" construction union and 80% on its Queensland leader for failing to provide 24 hours notice before officials entered a construction site for bargaining discussions with workers, after the head contractor insisted they be held off-site.
A Federal Court judge has accepted that the CFMMEU's offer to foot the bill for external training of its officials amounted to exhibiting enough contrition to keep a lid on penalties for entry breaches.
The Federal Court has criticised the ABCC's "misrepresentation" of evidence in pleadings and a media release, concluding the watchdog bore some responsibility for a subsequent report in a national newspaper that wrongly stated that a CFMMEU organiser made a "throat-slitting" gesture to a truck driver.
