The embattled CFMEU and two senior officials have been taken to court by Fair Work after they allegedly threatened an Indigenous labour hire firm in an attempt to push it off Victorian government worksites.
The Fair Work Ombudsman said on Wednesday it had launched proceedings against the construction union and organisers Joel Shackleton and Gerry McCrudden, alleging they breached the Fair Work Act’s prohibition against coercion, making false or misleading representations about workplace rights, and acting in an improper manner as an entry permit holder.
CFMEU official Joel Shackleton.Credit: Facebook
The ombudsman’s Federal Court case comes after this masthead published a video last year in which Shackleton allegedly threatens to bash the owners of Indigenous labour hire firm Marda Dandhi, telling one he would “take your soul and I’ll rip your f—ing head off”.
McCrudden is heard in the video – published as part of the Building Bad investigation by this masthead, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes – saying that labour hire firms without CFMEU backing would struggle to win work on Victoria’s Big Build projects because of the union’s agreements with large construction firms.
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Police arrested Shackleton last September and charged him with making threats to inflict serious injury and threats to kill, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Shackleton is contesting the charges.
The Fair Work Ombudsman said the CFMEU’s alleged unlawful conduct between July 2021 and March 2022 related to two Victorian government Big Build projects: a level crossing removal at Ferguson Street in Williamstown, and the Monash Freeway Upgrade Project at O’Shea Road in Berwick.
The alleged coercion was said to be intended to stop Marda Dandhi – which was aligned with the rival Australian Workers’ Union – from working on construction projects and from negotiating an enterprise agreement with the CFMEU.
Shackleton allegedly threatened one of Marda Dandhi’s owners during a phone call, and also “clenched his fists” at an owner in an attempt to coerce the firm, the ombudsman said.