Abbott Takes Aim At Union Members

Abbott government-supported efforts to pursue individual construction workers for strike penalties – including preventing the sale of assets such as homes – have been branded as an “unprecedented” ideological attack.

The construction union (CFMEU) and the federal opposition levelled the criticism, as they argued the legal manoeuvres signalled a tough new approach that could be taken against any worker engaging in unprotected industrial action.

Nigel Hadgkiss, who was appointed by the Coalition government as director of the pre-existing construction industry regulator, Fair Work Building and Construction (FWBC), told the Australian newspaper asset seizure orders had been executed against workers who participated in action connected with the Woodside Petroleum project in Western Australia in 2008.

Of the 117 employees ordered by the federal court last year to pay penalties, 25 had failed to pay amounts totalling $135,625, he told the newspaper.

Two seizure orders stopping employees from disposing of certain assets had been issued and the charges registered against their houses meant they could not dispose of them until they paid the debt.

“Workers, employers and unions alike should consider this a warning that if they breach workplace laws, FWBC will not hesitate to enforce penalties imposed by the courts,” Hadgkiss told the Australian.

Labor's workplace relations spokesman, Brendan O'Connor, characterised it as an “attack on the homes of workers who might take unprotected industrial action” and said the government must clarify whether the approach applied “to every Australian in a job”.

“It seems not even the great Australian dream is safe from Tony Abbott’s twisted priorities,” O'Connor said.

“This vindictive and unprecedented assault marks a new low in Mr Abbott’s ideological attack on the rights and conditions of Australian workers.”

The CFMEU, said the unprecedented action showed the government's preparedness “to hound workers and prevent them from speaking out on issues affecting their employment”.

“He is supporting a move that puts workers assets – including their homes – on the line, for something that happened in 2008,” said the national construction secretary, Dave Noonan.

“This is the beginning of what’s in store for workers in our industry. Mr Abbott has made it very clear that he’s doing the bidding of multinational companies who make billions of dollars in profits.

“He’s making it clear that he is willing to render workers homeless in his quest to teach them that this is the kind of punishment that awaits them if they dare to take a stand.”

Noonan said Abbott and Abetz often claimed their argument was with "union bosses" but this latest action was designed to intimidate individual workers.

The secretary of the ACTU, Dave Oliver, said: "Threatening people with the loss of property if they speak up about safety is an appalling stack of the deck in the employer’s favour."