18 July 2024

The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured a total of $168,000 in penalties in court against the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) and one of its officials for improper conduct that included “obnoxious, bullying interactions” at a construction site in Melbourne.

The Federal Court has imposed penalties of $150,000 against the CFMEU and penalties of $18,000 against Paul Tzimas.

Mr Tzimas, and, through him and another CFMEU official, the CFMEU, admitted breaching section 500 of the Fair Work Act by acting in an improper manner at the West Gate Tunnel construction project in Melbourne in December 2019.

On the evening of 3 December 2019, Mr Tzimas and another CFMEU official entered the West Gate Tunnel construction site and proceeded to a scaffold area in an exclusion zone, which had the effect of delaying the installation of five bridge beams.

The improper conduct included abusive comments Mr Tzimas made to a WorkSafe Victoria inspector and Victoria Police officers at the site in the early hours of 4 December 2019 after they asked Mr Tzimas and the other CFMEU official to leave the exclusion zone.

The comments included Mr Tzimas calling the WorkSafe Victoria inspector “corrupt”, a “disgrace” and a “lapdog” to the site’s construction contractor.

Mr Tzimas also called the Victorian Police officers a “disgrace” and a “lapdog” to the contractor.

Justice Snaden found that Mr Tzimas and the other CFMEU official were not justified in behaving the way they did and their conduct “bespoke a thuggish assertion of control over how the site should operate”.

“They sought to appropriate unto themselves an authority that they plainly did not possess; and, when challenged, their response was to bully their interlocutors with unwarranted insults and abuse,” Justice Snaden said.

“There is no possible justification for the conduct in which they engaged; and yet each felt licensed to obstruct the performance of work, and to bully and abuse those who sought to persuade them not to, including independent third parties who were unwittingly called upon to deploy their expertise in a difficult situation in the middle of the night.”

Justice Snaden found that there was a need to impose penalties to deter the CFMEU, Mr Tzimas and other workplace participants from similar conduct in future.

“The court must exact a heavy toll: not merely to ensure that Mr Tzimas and the CFMEU are brought to account for the obnoxious, bullying interactions in which they indulged; but also to serve as a deterrent to others who might otherwise be minded to act in an inappropriate manner when exercising rights of entry,” Justice Snaden said.

The legal action against the CFMEU and Mr Tzimas was commenced by the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) in 2020.

Under federal legislation, responsibility for the case transferred from the ABCC to the Fair Work Ombudsman in December 2022.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the court penalties affirmed the seriousness of breaching laws requiring permit holders to comply with the law.

“There is no place for improper conduct by permit holders on any worksite,” Ms Booth said.

“Improving compliance across the building and construction industry is a priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman, and we will investigate reports of non-compliance and hold to account those who act outside the law.”

The Fair Work Ombudsman has now secured total penalties of more than $3.5 million in court cases that have been finalised since they were transferred to it in December 2022.

The large majority of these penalties have been secured against the CFMEU or its officials.

Mr Tzimas ceased being a permit holder under the Fair Work Act in December 2023.

All building and construction industry employers and employees can seek sector-specific workplace information, advice and assistance from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Employers and employees can also visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 for free advice and assistance. An interpreter service is available on 13 14 50.