Case pins down 'intentional' breach against 'remorseful' union officer
The Federal Circuit and Family Court has issued a combined penalty of $72,500 against the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) and one of its officials for engaging in unlawful conduct at a construction site in Melbourne.
This legal action was initiated by the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC). Specifically, the CFMMEU faced a penalty of $62,000, while CFMMEU official Paul Tzimas was personally penalised $10,500.
Tzimas, representing the CFMMEU, acknowledged two violations of the Fair Work Act, which prohibits improper conduct by permit holders.
The incidents took place on 2 May 2022 at the construction site of a multi-story commuter car park at Belgrave Railway Station in Melbourne's east.
The charges stem from Tzimas physically pushing a senior site manager on two occasions, causing the manager to lose balance and knocking his hard hat off.
According to records, Tzimas entered the project in his role as CFMMEU organiser and permit-holder. He was there to notify of and investigate alleged safety issues on the project pursuant to the rights conferred by the state’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
By his own account, shortly after the inspection started, Tzimas noticed the senior manager who appeared to be cleaning up signage near a vehicle gate area.
After checking what the manager did, Tzimas walked away from his escort and approached the former and the pair “had an exchange of words.”
Tzimas then pushed the manager with one hand into the former’s shoulder, and he lost his balance and took a few steps back.
He also said that he then dropped the folder that he had been holding to the ground, knocked the hard hat off the manager’s head and pushed him again in the chest using both hands.
This act caused the manager to lose balance again and take several steps backward. The men then walked in different directions.
Tzimas said that “he was not sure why he had pushed [the manager],” but said that he was “very upset at the time, he was not thinking straight, and recalled his heart was racing.”
He said he “sincerely regrets his conduct,” and that he “is disappointed in himself that he lost his cool because he wants CFMMEU members to be confident in his ability to represent their interests in a composed and professional way.”
He added that he “does not want his conduct to be used as part of the anti-union narrative that comes from certain parts of the media.”
After its investigation, the court accepted the union officer’s “remorse” but found that the breaches were “intentional.”
It emphasised the necessity of imposing penalties "to incentivise both future compliance on the part of individuals and a culture of compliance on the part of industrial organisations that employ individual permit-holders to act in the interests of their members."
The court ruled that Tzimas is personally responsible for paying at least $3,150 of the imposed penalty.
