A head contractor unlawfully blocked ETU organisers' access to labour hire linesworkers on an interstate power transmission project, the Federal Court has found, and the various reasons it provided for refusing entry appear "disingenuous".
The Federal Government should consider "a right of access" to workplaces rather than a right of entry", to overcome the presumption that workers attend a physical location to perform their jobs that "ignore[s] the reality" of post-COVID-19 remote and digital work environments, a union leader suggests in a paper she will present at the Australian Labour Law Association conference next week in Geelong.
The FWC has suspended the entry permit of the CFMEU construction division's sole Wollongong organiser over a "moderately serious" breach soon after the union engaged him five years ago, and which late last year earned him a $4000 fine.
A CFMMEU official who pushed a site manager and knocked his hard hat off has copped a $10,500 fine and orders to personally fork out 30%, while the repeat offender's latest transgression has cost the union more than $70,000.
In what a leading labour law academic describes as a "victory for common sense", a full court has quashed a ruling that union officials cannot use their right to enter premises for discussions with members to gather signatures on petitions or "secure a commitment to a particular course of action in the future".
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.
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.
DP World has failed to persuade the FWC that MUA officials should be blocked from attending one-on-one "feedback" meetings with management when members seek their presence.
The ETU has confirmed that it will challenge a Federal Court ruling that "neuters" unions' rights to enter workplaces to organise workers through a restrictive interpretation of provisions allowing access for "discussions" with employees.
