The Federal Court has refused to issue CFMEU organiser Drew MacDonald a certificate protecting him from self-incrimination in proceedings brought by the ABCC over alleged unprotected action.
A full Federal Court majority has found that the court cannot treat a "lawful request" or a party's motivation for taking coercive industrial action as a mitigating factor when assessing penalties and has ordered a twelve-fold increase in fines against the CFMEU for organising a blockade at Perth International Airport in 2013.
Carlton & United Breweries and the ETU in submissions to a Senate inquiry have provided conflicting accounts of last year's dispute over the use of labour hire employees at the company's Abbotsford brewery.
The FWC will allow the ABCC to include material the CFMEU claims is prejudicial in its application to axe the entry permits of three officials who allegedly abused their rights when they visited Lend Lease sites in 2014.
The NSW Public Service Association has defied a court order restraining it from organising its members to strike in protest at the State Government's plans to privatise disability support work and will now face substantial penalties in the Supreme Court.
A court has fined the CFMEU and two organisers almost $100,000, after finding the union engaged in unlawful coercion and adverse action when it organised a blockade at the $1.6 billion Port of Melbourne expansion project because an employer refused to bargain.
The ABCC is seeking special leave from the High Court to seek to overturn a recent decision that stymied the watchdog's push to prohibit unions from paying fines imposed on officials for unlawful conduct.
The MUA may be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation and penalties after the FWO commenced legal action against the union for allegedly organising unlawful, week-long industrial action at Sydney and Brisbane ports last year.
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.
