The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) has accused the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) of bullying tactics and using its coercive powers to attack press freedom, in a statement released on February 27.
According to the MEAA, the ABCC has subpoenaed two newspapers, the Maribyrnong Leader and the Workplace Express, in an attempt to access information and notes written for articles about an industrial dispute over union coverage at the Melbourne Westgate Bridge.
A construction project designed to upgrade the Westgate Bridge and expand its traffic capacity was put on hold after John Holland, the construction company contracted by the state government, refused to let the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) and the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) represent the workers on site.
Holland negotiated an agreement with the industrially weak Australian Workers' Union instead. A worker on the site told Green Left Weekly that workers there are all members of the AMWU or CFMEU.
The two unions organised a picket line on February 6 in protest. Both unions have now been ordered off the site and legal proceedings for damages for "illegal strike action" have been taken against some officials.
The ABCC was set up by the previous federal Coalition government to declare war on the building industry unions and curb their industrial muscle. It operates like a secret police force and, under its extraordinary coercive powers, the ABCC can impose high fines and demand jail sentences for non-cooperation.