Victoria's Supreme Court has lobbed a $120,000 contempt fine against the CFMMEU for pre-amalgamation MUA leaders' speeches to picketers at a Melbourne container terminal, finding the union made a calculated decision that its interests would be well served by flouting "no go" orders.
Three unions have won court approval to argue that the IR manager of a major service provider should be held accessorially liable for alleged underpayment of workers at Esso's onshore and offshore Bass Strait sites.
The union leading the campaign against prospective job losses at a major brewery is at risk of being sidelined after the FWC found it "reached the line between [unacceptably careless disregard] and. . . deliberate non-compliance" in failing to communicate restraining notices to members.
A judge has today comprehensively rejected an FWO attempt to rewrite the way courts assess fines for unlawful strikes, ordering the CFMMEU's MUA division to pay $38,000 for a solitary contravention after the watchdog sought $3.6 million in penalties for more than 500 breaches.
The FWO is seeking to fine the CFMMEU's MUA division more than $3.5 million for unlawful industrial action against Hutchison Ports, using a novel argument that historic contraventions of the same Fair Work Act provision denies the union the benefit of the legislation's single course of conduct mechanism.
The Victorian Supreme Court has rejected an application by the CFMMEU to delay civil damages proceedings brought by the operator of Port of Melbourne's new "robo" terminal until its merger with the MUA and TCFU is bedded down.
MUA members have today endorsed an in-principle agreement at Qube's Melbourne car terminal which was hit by a series of protected strikes in recent weeks.
Glencore's Oaky North coal mine workers have voted to accept the same in-principle agreement that they rejected in January, with the CFMMEU crediting its successful FWC bid to pause a bitter seven-month lockout with creating the right environment to break the deadlock.
The Fair Work Commission has ordered an end to Glencore's lockout and a CFMEU picket at the Oaky North coal mine in Queensland, to provide a cooling-off period before a second vote on a proposed agreement on March 27.
