ACCC institutes proceedings alleging breach of secondary boycott provisions

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has today instituted legal proceedings in the Federal Court, Melbourne, against the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union (AMWU), the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) and the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU) alleging that they breached the secondary boycott provisions of the Trade Practices Act.

The ACCC has alleged that between 2 October 2002 and 23 October 2002 the AMWU, the AWU and the CEPU maintained a picket at the entrance to the construction site of the Patricia Baleen gas plant near Orbost in Victoria. It is alleged that the picket prevented construction workers and vehicles delivering materials from entering the site.

The ACCC is seeking the following orders against the unions:

• declarations that their conduct contravened section 45D of the Act;
• injunctions preventing them from engaging in similar conduct in the future;
• pecuniary penalties;
• an order that they implement a trade practices compliance program; and
• an order that they publicise in their respective journals a public notice detailing the substance of the orders ultimately made by the Court.

The ACCC notes that the press reports indicating this matter has been finalised are incorrect. The matter can only be finalised by the Federal Court after it considers the ACCC’s application.

The matter has been listed for a directions hearing in the Federal Court, Melbourne on 16 June 2003.