A judge has warned the FWO of a possible "perception" it failed to comply with its model litigant obligations after dropping the "most serious" claim of threatening behaviour from a CFMEU right of entry case as part of a liability deal.
The FWC has handed back MUA WA branch secretary Will Tracey's entry permit after more than a decade, finding he can "be assumed to have left behind his past propensity to engage in unlawful conduct".
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 CFMEU official has escaped having to personally pay a $7000 fine despite a court accepting that he raised the issue of workers' pay when blocking a non-union contractor's concrete pour.
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".
The process of obtaining an entry permit should be "no more than onerous" than that for a passport unless there are "good grounds" for suspecting the applicant might not be a fit and proper person, according to the Booth-Hamberger review of regulation of registered organisations.
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.
