A court has today praised RAFFWU for its service of the national interest in pursuing a McDonald's franchisee and securing $82,000 in fines against if for sinister, cruel, coercive threats via Facebook posts to deny its predominantly young workforce drink and toilet breaks required under the fast food chain's agreement.
In a significant judgment closely examining the limits of "industrial activity", a full Federal Court led by Chief Justice James Allsop has overturned penalties imposed on two CFMMEU officials for leading a walk-out from a building site that had no separate toilet for a female worker.
The CFMMEU and one of its officials organised unlawful industrial action by 16 building workers to coerce a construction subcontractor to make an agreement for a stadium construction project, the Federal Court has ruled
In crucial ruling that "ameliorates" the effect of the High Court's Esso ruling, a union that faced having its proposed industrial action rendered unprotected when it didn't fully comply with a court order has won a full Federal Court finding that it can be retrospectively revoked.
A 55-year-old former cabin crew manager is seeking $1.7 million in lost wages and super, plus future lost earnings until retirement and at least $200,000 in damages from Qantas for alleged sexual discrimination and harassment some 17 to 30 years ago, according to court documents the airline sought to keep under wraps.
The Federal Court will rule tomorrow on a Qantas bid to block access to documents lodged by a former employee who claims she has been subjected to s-xual and disability discrimination and s-xual harassment.
An AMWU organiser has been fined $12,000 for threatening to blockade a building site and generate "bad PR" if the project refused to engage union members.
In rejecting an individual's claim that an ABCC notice to attend an examination was invalid as it did not enable her to decide whether she needed to answer all of its questions, the Federal Court has also contradicted the agency's position on the level of detail it must provide.
A full Federal Court has largely dismissed the CFMMEU's broad-ranging appeal against more than $300,000 in fines imposed for attempting to force a contractor into signing a union-approved deal, agreeing only that publication orders served no purpose and that too much was made of an "eenie meenie miney mo!" text message.
The Federal Court has today ordered the AWU to pay an $18,000 penalty for pressing charges under its rules against two members who refused to support industrial action against Orica.
