“A new case filed in Tasmania is another example of why the Australian Building and Construction (ABCC) must be retained to stamp out building union bullying of workers and small business on construction sites,” Denita Wawn CEO of Master Builders Australia.
The latest case involves Federal Court proceedings and alleges that a construction union official tried to access a construction site, despite handing back his ‘Right of Entry’ permit before it could be stripped from him by the Courts for his breaches of workplace laws.
“Another day, another case that shows why the ABCC is crucial in making sure everyone on building sites plays by the rules,” Denita Wawn said.
“The allegations made by the ABCC against building unions in this case support what our members say to us every day – building unions do what they want, when they want,” she said.
“The fresh proceedings come after two separate decisions against the same official in last year, where they were found to have contravened Right of Entry provisions of the Fair Work laws on at least nine occasions across two separate projects,” Denita Wawn said.
In one previous case, the Court found the official acted improperly and in breach of Fair Work laws when he called a site supervisor ‘a f**king incompetent c**t’, and said words to the effect of ‘Don’t make me angry… I’m sick of your bullsh*t’, ‘I’m closing the amenities f**king down. What do you say to that? God you are a d*ckhead. F**king incompetent c**t’.
In a separate previous case, the Court found the official entered the site on three separate occasions in breach of Fair Work laws, including on multiple occasions swearing at site management and a Safety supervisor saying ‘You can’t f**king stop me’ (when told he couldn’t enter the site without a valid permit), entering the site without providing an entry notice, and verbally abusing a project manager saying he was a ‘f**king c**t’, and should ‘stop being a f**king grub’.
“Obviously, these latest allegations remain to be proven, but it’s indicative of the reports we receive from members everyday about the culture of building unions who believe they are above the law,” Denita Wawn said.
“We want the next Federal Government to maintain the ABCC to protect workers and small business from building union thuggery. Without the ABCC, these building union officials will just get away with this,” Denita Wawn said.
