A self-confessed "smart-arse" organiser, who claimed to be crocodile hunter Steve Irwin after he entered a NSW building site for a safety inspection while under a Queensland permit, might be personally liable for any penalties.
An employer's insistence that a union organiser conduct meetings with members at a remote construction site in a non-airconditioned shipping container that reached temperatures of 50 degrees celsius did not excuse his abusive response, the Federal Court has ruled.
HSU Victorian No. 1 branch general manager Kimberley Kitching completed tests required to gain entry permits for officials in early 2013 with the "knowledge and authorisation" of branch secretary Diana Asmar, the Fair Work Commission found today.
A new FWC ruling indicates that union officials seeking entry permits might have to demonstrate that they have recently received training on their rights and obligations.
The FWC has issued an AMIEU official and bipolar sufferer a conditional entry permit after confirming conditions can be imposed to satisfy the "fit and proper person" test.
The FWC has banned a CFMEU official from holding an entry permit for 19 months over his "serious and ugly" behaviour towards an FWBC inspector on a building site last year that was captured on video and played to the Heydon Royal Commission.
The Federal Court in fining the CFMEU $545,000 for unlawful industrial action has warned that it can't expect to keep its registration as a trade union while it "persistently abuses" its privileges.
The Heydon Royal Commission has today asked for further submissions on the introduction of US-style anti-racketeering laws "to combat unlawful activities" in the construction industry, while noting it would constitute "a significant step requiring detailed and careful consideration".
A CFMEU organiser who threatened to "go to war" with a sub-contractor on the Royal Adelaide Hospital project was in contempt of an order banning him from the site, the Federal Court has ruled.
The FWC has ordered CFMEU construction and general division WA branch secretary Mick Buchan to amend his application for a new entry permit after finding he failed to declare four active court proceedings against him.
