Tue 15/12/2015
A major rally and protest is set down for tomorrow morning as 101 workers will appear at the Federal Court of Australia in Perth to defend proceedings after being charged with simply attending a union meeting.
All of the workers are facing extraordinary fines of $10,000 each!
The meeting took place on July 18th 2013 on grounds outside the New Children's Hospital in Nedlands to discuss issues surrounding wages and conditions including pay disparity.
Some of the workers charged were from the St John of God Hospital projects which were being built at the time in Midland and Murdoch. Neither of these two projects suffered disruption to their completion deadline as a result of the workers attendance at the meeting, the construction phase of both projects were completed on time and budget.
CFMEU State Secretary Mick Buchan says: "The Fair Work Building Inspectorate has been politicised to the extent that they are implementing charges like this in an attempt to justify the full reintroduction and coercive powers of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. These workers simply gathered to be informed and have a discussion about a whole range of issues affecting them and their industry, including disparity of wages and conditions. Now they face fines of $10,000 each. The day that workers can't have a meeting in this country to discuss important issues is a sad indictment on our democracy.
What's going on?
The question also needs to be asked: why are construction workers always singled out when other unions and their members have meetings across various locations without so much as a whimper.
These charges come on top of 76 workers were charged for attending a rally to support local jobs and another 51 workers who are heading to court for attending a union meeting in Joondalup. No union or their members should be charged for having a meeting to discuss relevant industrial issues which affect them and their families. As the 101 file into the Court, the crowd will be there to support them 101% and we'll do whatever we can to put a stop to these draconian laws. Under the Federal Liberal Government Workchoices isn't coming back, it's already here."
A major rally and protest is set down for tomorrow morning as 101 workers will appear at the Federal Court of Australia in Perth to defend proceedings after being charged with simply attending a union meeting.
All of the workers are facing extraordinary fines of $10,000 each!
The meeting took place on July 18th 2013 on grounds outside the New Children's Hospital in Nedlands to discuss issues surrounding wages and conditions including pay disparity.
Some of the workers charged were from the St John of God Hospital projects which were being built at the time in Midland and Murdoch. Neither of these two projects suffered disruption to their completion deadline as a result of the workers attendance at the meeting, the construction phase of both projects were completed on time and budget.
CFMEU State Secretary Mick Buchan says: "The Fair Work Building Inspectorate has been politicised to the extent that they are implementing charges like this in an attempt to justify the full reintroduction and coercive powers of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. These workers simply gathered to be informed and have a discussion about a whole range of issues affecting them and their industry, including disparity of wages and conditions. Now they face fines of $10,000 each. The day that workers can't have a meeting in this country to discuss important issues is a sad indictment on our democracy.
What's going on?
The question also needs to be asked: why are construction workers always singled out when other unions and their members have meetings across various locations without so much as a whimper.
These charges come on top of 76 workers were charged for attending a rally to support local jobs and another 51 workers who are heading to court for attending a union meeting in Joondalup. No union or their members should be charged for having a meeting to discuss relevant industrial issues which affect them and their families. As the 101 file into the Court, the crowd will be there to support them 101% and we'll do whatever we can to put a stop to these draconian laws. Under the Federal Liberal Government Workchoices isn't coming back, it's already here."
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