Critical Times

The Federal Government is pursuing fines of millions of dollars against senior trade union leader for, alleging he tried to halt the spread of wage-cutting individual contracts.

Construction Division CFMEU Assistant National Secretary Dave Noonan faces the charges, as 107 Perth workers prepare to face charges that could see them fined up to $28,600 each.

Mr Noonan faces fines of up to $2.5 million under legal action to be initiated by the Howard Government this week. Lawyers for Mr Noonan have been informed that papers alleging a breach of the Trades Practices Act will be served on him as well as his union this week.

The action will be bought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission under secondary boycott provisions drafted by John Howard in the 1970s.

They allege Mr Noonan colluded with Bovis Lend Lease in terminating a Canberra sub-contractor’s contract for employing independent contractors in 2003.

“This is a politically motivated attack from a government that is preparing to personally sue 107 workers for taking industrial action”, Dave Noonan says. “I am being pursued for standing up for decent conditions and job security in the building industry.

“This prosecution raises a number of questions about the political nature of supposed independent government agencies. First, why is the agency choosing the eve of elections for National Secretary of CFMEU Construction, for which I am standing, to launch a prosecution against me after more than three years of delay?

“Secondly, it shows the extent the Howard Government is prepared to go in order to prevent union officials from protecting the rights of working men and women.”

The secondary boycott provisions specifically outlaw actions by a union or workers that restrict the trade of a third party — someone or a company that is not their employer. It applies to situations such as refusal to cross a picket line by workers who are not employees of that company or refusal to provide services to that company. It also covers situations where certain restrictions are placed on the ability of a business to trade as a condition of doing business.

The Guardian 30 August, 2006