The CFMEU and its former construction and general division Queensland branch president David Hanna have been fined more than $37,000 for threatening to continue industrial action against a construction company unless it agreed to a secret deal, with the court finding the union had a boundless disregard for the law.
A court has fined a company and its director $124,000 over a sham contracting arrangement in which they underpaid a 417 visa-holder almost $8000 for four months work after misclassifying him as an independent contractor.
The committal hearing for blackmail charges against CFMEU construction and general division Victorian branch secretary John Setka and his assistant secretary Shaun Reardon is set to be delayed until the middle of next year.
More than 50 construction workers are facing penalties after the Federal Court found they took unlawful strike action when they attended a CFMEU rally at a Perth children's hospital construction site in 2013, but the union says the case is a complete "farce".
The FWO has used accessorial liability provisions to secure substantial penalties across the chain of command of a frozen yoghurt franchise responsible for underpaying four overseas workers.
The CFMEU construction and general division's Victorian branch spent $13.1 million on legal costs in the 12 months to the end of last year, up more than five-fold from $2.3 million in 2014.
The CFMEU says it will appeal to a full Federal Court over a judge's refusal to let it withdraw admissions that it was liable for right of entry contraventions by five officials at three Adelaide construction sites, after the High Court on Friday found the union inappropriately invoked its jurisdiction.
A director who appears to be operating a "phoenix" labour hire company and his former HR manager have been penalised $25,000 for their knowing involvement in unlawfully deducting $130,000 from the wages of 102 Crown Casino and Federation Square cleaners and providing false records to the FWO.
The Turnbull Government will introduce legislation early next year to give the Fair Work Ombudsman new examination powers and expressly prohibit employers from providing false and misleading information.
