A court has roasted a construction contractor for the "deficient evidence" it relied on for its "complete denial" that it breached entry laws when it blocked CFMMEU officials from inspecting a suspected safety flaw they identified after entering a site to examine another possible contravention.
The AWU's pursuit of fines against builders John Holland for allegedly denying an official lawful access to test silica dust levels on Australia's biggest road project has been put on hold, after a judge accepted that the FWC is the best forum to quickly determine entry rights when workers' health is potentially in jeopardy.
CFMMEU leader Michael Ravbar has been skewered with his second personal penalty in four months for "blatantly" breaching entry rights when delaying work at a major project to promote an industry super fund during unauthorised early morning barbecues.
The FWC has taken the UWU to task over a "lack of willingness" to honour an agreement to stay in a designated area of a Woolworths distribution centre canteen after complaints from workers, rejecting assertions the union did not agree to continue the arrangement after a trial.
The FWC has renewed the entry permit of a NSW Teachers Federation industrial officer despite finding her continued use of an expired one "shows both organisational and personal failing".
In what is believed to be the first interlocutory injunction to provide union entry for discussion purposes, the Federal Court has ordered a project head contractor to permit ETU organisers to access labour hire linesworkers on a 900km, $2.2 billion interstate power transmission interconnector.
The Federal Court has today reversed a judge's finding that a CFMMEU organiser directed a "disgusting" homophobic slur towards a construction project's safety advisor, while it also axed a personal payment order against him.
The FWC has reinstituted a CFMMEU official's entry rights after more than five years, accepting that he had put his history of foul-mouthed contraventions behind him since being elected to a leadership role and making "lifestyle" changes to reduce stress.
The FWC has accepted the rehabilitation of a CFMMEU organiser penalised for a perceived racial slur, issuing him with an entry permit three years after he surrendered his previous one.
The Federal Court is continuing to order CFMMEU officials to pay penalties out of their own pockets, rejecting arguments that two first offenders and one organiser no longer employed by the union should have their fines suspended.
