Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.

WA Construction Workers Address VTHC Executive

Friday 21 July 2006
Brian Boyd, Secretary VTHC

CFMEU delegate Mal Peters and his wife Bernadette addressed the VTHC Executive on the latest events affecting the Leightons Perth to Mandurah rail construction project.

Bernadette and Mal Peters - targetted for fighting fo their rights

Back in February and March this year the workers on the site took action to back-up their sacked shop steward. Eventually a settlement was reached with their employer and the job went back to work.
Over three months later the Federal Government’s own building police force, the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), commenced legal action against 107 construction workers, threatening them with up to $28,600 worth of fines for backing up their new job representative.
On July 5, the ABCC, started legal action in the Federal Court Against the construction workers. The following evening, about 60 workers and their families were served with writs in their homes. They are charged with taking ‘unlawful industrial action’.
They face the fines under special building industry legislation and for allegedly ignoring an Industrial Relations Commission order banning strikes on the project. The ABCC has asked the court to make orders against the workers and declaring that the workers pay the Federal Government’s costs of the court action!
This is the first time individual workers have faced fines for strike action in Australia under these laws. It is not a matter of pay being docked for time lost or an employer seeking to recover economic loss.
Rather it is the Howard Government launching court proceedings against workers, that could see ordinary Australian families lose their homes as punishment for standing up for their rights.
And it is only the beginning.
The remaining 296 workers on the WA railway project may also be charged.  And the ABCC is lining up similar prosecutions against individual workers in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, NSW and Queensland.
Their cases begin I the Federal Court on August 29. The CFMEU is supporting these workers as they prepare to front up to the court.
The 107 WA workers are the first union members to face political persecution in nearly 40 years. Australians should be concerned they will not be the last.
The VTHC Executive Council has passed a resolution supporting the CFMEU’s National Fund Raising Appeal.


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