Australia's Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) has today been penalised AU$38,000 (US$28,000) for organising unlawful industrial action at shipping terminals in Sydney and Brisbane.
After a contested hearing in the Federal Court last year, Justice Jayne Jagot found that between August 7 and August 14, 2015, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), as it was known before becoming part of the CFMMEU, contravened the Fair Work Act by organising and being involved in unlawful industrial action taken by stevedoring and maintenance employees of HPA at the two terminals.
The industrial action, which involved a stoppage of work over 21 separate shifts, was found unlawful because the MUA, the workers and HPA were covered by a current enterprise agreement that had not reached its nominal expiry date when the action took place.
Justice Jagot found that the industrial action was part of a larger overall campaign by the MUA to pressure HPA not to proceed with proposed redundancies at the Port Botany and Port Brisbane terminals.
The Fair Work Ombudsman's application for the CFMMEU to compensate HPA for losses it allegedly incurred as a result of the unlawful industrial action was dismissed.