"A JUDGE has condemned the CFMEU’s “deplorable history,” while fining the union and one of its officials $86,000 for telling two Brisbane construction workers to pay union fees or not work on a site.

In the Federal Circuit Court on Tuesday, judge Michael Jarrett penalised the CFMEU and delegate Daniel Barker for making “false and misleading” representations towards the workers on the Zest Apartments Project in Kelvin Grove in January 2016.

He fined the CFMEU $80,000, and Barker $6000.

The court has previously been told both workers left the site after Barker told them they each owed union fees and had to pay up in order to work there.

When reminded by a site manager that workers had the right to not be in a union, the CFMEU delegate said: “Everybody’s got to be in the union, this is an EBA site.”

Justice Jarrett said the fines reflected “the CFMEU’s deplorable history of compliance with industrial laws”.

"John Setka last week in a rally urged those people at the rally, and indicated the CFMEU was going to continue to intimidate and threaten the public servants who work for the Australian Building and Construction Commission who are just going about their jobs,’

“He was going to find them in their supermarkets, at the footy games where they were with their kids, shame them in front of their families, tell people where they live, just because the ABCC is trying to bring about the rule of law on construction sites in Australia.’’

Unions = Mafia

Hi there SHADOW MINISTER & PAUL1405...

A little known fact with the Police Association, the Executive are all made up of serving police members, with only the top echelons of the Executive (the President & Secretary) on secondment for full-time Association duties. After which they either step down or lose their elected positions, and return to full time police.

If they choose to 'rock the boat' or be somewhat of a 'stirrer' while holding a position of power eg the Association Secretary, they should be very mindful they'll eventually need to return to normal duties after their term of office expires, and various Commissioners have awfully long memories!

SHADOW MINISTER, your comparison between the coppers union and other more militant unions are actually very difficult to compare. The Police Association executive are made up of police members, and as a consequence they need to behave as the spotlight is always on them in terms of what they say and do.

Moreover it's my understanding the more militant trade unions are staffed usually by full time Union organiser's, who have some training as Union leaders, therefore they usually understand their many limitation on precisely, what it is they can, and can't do. Hope this helps?

Hi there PAUL1405...

Sorry for my delay in answering you apropos figures of manpower in the respective Police Forces. NYPD has about 35,000 sworn, and 11,000 unsworn (covering all five Boroughs). Whereas the London Met. has about 32,000 sworn and 11,000 unsworn. But in moments of an emergency they can draw an additional 700 from the City of London Police as well. A curious old system that still prevails in The City of London? Just one square mile of Policing?

Before my time there were issues to do with Pensions, not only upon retirement but through invalidity, and being killed on duty as well. But even though the occasional disgruntled copper, will still have a whinge, we've got an excellent pension scheme which we all must pay into, the moment we're sworn-in. While it's true Paul, they're forever and intolerably, tinkering around the damn thing, I don't reckon there much to complain about, in my opinion. However, you get two coppers in a room together, and they'll find something to whinge about for sure. Thanks Paul.

O,

I never made any comparison between the police union and the CFMEU. The main difference is that the Police union is made up of police, and the CFMEU is made up of crooks.