The Federal Court has ordered the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union to pay nearly $250,000 in compensation payments and fines after they admitted engaging in unlawful industrial action at a Diploma Group development.
The CFMEU, Western Australia branch assistant secretary Joe McDonald and organiser Michael Buchan copped the brunt of the fines, after they acknowledged their involvement in an unlawful strike in a statement of agreed fact.
The court ordered the union pay $120,000, Mr McDonald $17,000 and Mr Buchan $13,000
The Federal Court’s Justice John Gilmour also ordered the CFMEU to pay Diploma compensation of $93,695 and the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner’s court costs.
The court found Messrs McDonald and Buchan had visited Diploma’s site in June 2009, convincing employees of nine separate contractors to stop work for a three day period.
Mr McDonald also held further meetings outside the site on June 25 and 25, 2009, encouraging more workers to stop work on those days.
In December 2009, the Federal Court imposed an injunction restraining the union and Mr McDonald and Mr Buchan from engaging in any further unlawful conduct at Diploma site sin WA.
“There is no substantive right to engage in illegal conduct,” Justice Gilmour said when handing down his judgement.
The ABCC said it had a further six matters involving Mr McDonald and the CFMEU before the courts.
