ABCC takes legal action
Union visit to TSRC lands in court
THE construction watchdog has launched legal action against eight CFMEU organisers, alleging they caused work on the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing Project to be shut down when they unlawfully entered the worksite.
The Australian Building and Construction Commission has lodged a Federal Court claim against the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union and eight of its organisers who entered the construction site over three days in late April and early May.
The ABCC claims work on the $1.6 billion project had to be halted several times with the presence of uninducted union officials on the site posing a safety risk.
The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union responded by blasting the Federal Government’s “industry attack dog” for “wasting taxpayers’ money re-prosecuting matters of legal technicality on what is the worst site for workplace health and safety in Queensland”.
CFMEU state secretary Michael Ravbar said the ABCC’s move to prosecute another eight cases relating to site ac- cess for union officials on the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing made a mockery of industrial laws.
Court documents allege that union organisers Kurt Pauls and Beau Seiffert attended the site about 11am on Monday, April 30, saying they were there to resolve a dispute on behalf of workers who contacted them about safety incidents.
The men allegedly refused to produce entry permits and entered the site for two hours without permission.
The following day, organisers Mr Pauls, Mr Seiffert, Te Aranui Albert and Blake Hynes attended the site and entered, refusing to show entry permits and ignoring requests for them to leave.
The ABCC claims work had to be stopped as a result.
The following day, six union officials Mr Pauls, Hynes, Shaun Desmond, Craig Davidson, Justin Steele and Michael Davis allegedly again attended, saying they wished to enter the site to discuss safety issues and that the employees who had the issue were too scared to speak up. The men entered the site, again causing work to stop and were later ordered by police to leave.