The Federal Court has imposed fines and costs of almost $1 million on the CFMMEU and more than $170,000 on officials and delegates for unlawful picketing and coercion of a crane company to reinstate a sacked delegate and sign an agreement.
The ACCC has had a major setback in its landmark cartel case against the CFMMEU construction and general division's ACT branch and its secretary, Jason O'Mara.
The ACCC has issued a warning notice against an IR business and its sole director accused of pocketing compensation payments made to unfair dismissal applicants.
The ACCC has initiated a boycotts case against major construction company J Hutchinson and the CFMMEU, claiming the union persuaded the head contractor to ditch a waterproofing subcontractor that did not have a union deal, or face industrial action.
The ACCC's landmark criminal cartel case against the CFMMEU and its construction and general division ACT branch secretary, Jason O'Mara, has been set down for a two-week committal hearing starting in mid-February, while the regulator has secured anti-price-fixing undertakings from roofing contractors it caught out on Facebook.
The ACCC will argue a Federal Court judge mistakenly found Employsure advertising would not mislead businesses into thinking it is a government agency, in an appeal lodged this week.
A new ACCC class exemption for small businesses wanting to collectively bargain is a "big step forward" for gig economy workers and others classified as independent contractors, but it comes with significant limitations, according to IR academics.
The ACCC's five-pronged case against Employsure over alleged misrepresentations and unfair contracts has been tossed out, the Federal Court crucially accepting that its target audience is confined to employers rather than a broader category including workers.
In court hearings that started this week into ACCC allegations that Employsure misled businesses into thinking it is associated with the FWO or the FWC, the employment advice provider is refuting claims it trapped them in unfair contracts.
The Federal Court will next month convene a hearing for an ACCC prosecution of employment advice provider Employsure for allegedly misleading small business operators into believing it was the FWO or the FWC or was connected to them.
