This article came from Chris White’s Blog
With this first legal win, we have to keep the campaign going to have Abigroup withdraw against Bob Carnegie the ancient master and servant civil law torts for damages.
News “VETERAN unionist Bob Carnegie, who was today found not guilty of 18 contempt of court related charges, said the case had taken a huge emotional toll on him and his family.
Mr Carnegie emerged from the Federal Court building in Brisbane saying: “Fellow workers, comrades, case dismissed. We won.”
http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/queensland/watch/18532010/workers-rally-to-support-carnegie/
Federal Magistrate Michael Burnett dismissed all 18 charges brought by hospital developer Abigroup Contractors against the former Maritime Union official. The court had heard a September 2012 court order barred Mr Carnegie from involvement in a picket line outside the hospital building site.
The Federal Magistrate said he was not satisfied the order itself was a proper order.
A huge cheer went up from union members inside and outside the courtroom at the Federal Circuit Court after Federal Magistrate Burnett handed down his written decision. “It’s been tough, particularly on my family,” said Mr Carnegie, who funded his own defence by law firm Slater and Gordon. “We’ve seen it through because we’re a family. We’re a union family.
“As long as we stick together, as long as we believe in ourselves, as long as we stand by our organisation, we’ll get through everything we have to face.”
About 500 chanting union members had gathered outside the Federal Court building to await the decision.
Mr Carnegie, who still faces a civil case brought against him by Abigroup, said it had been”hugely emotional for himself”, but much harder for his wife.
Financially, Mr Carnegie said it had “cost a lot”, but he said everything he had done was for rank and file workers and he had an extremely clear conscience about what had happened in the dispute last year.
The hearing before Federal Magistrate Michael Burnett was held in February and concluded with final submissions in April. from Courier Mail.http://m.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/contempt-charges-dropped-against-unionist-bob-carnegie/story-fnihsrf2-1226698230939
See earlier posts on this blog.http://chriswhiteonline.org/2013/02/support-bob-carnegie/
On the community assembly http://chriswhiteonline.org/2013/05/on-the-community-assembly/
Mr Carnegie, who had pleaded not guilty to the 18 charges, had faced possible jail time or a hefty fine if found guilty.
Nine charges related to his alleged attendance within 100 metres of the hospital building site last year.
Five charges alleged he organised persons on a picket line, three charges related to alleged abusive language and one charge related to an alleged threat to employees.
Counsel for Mr Carnegie, Peter Morrissey SC, in April told the court that the court order Mr Carnegie was accused of breaching was “not clear or unambiguous”.
He said a substantive injustice had been done because the court orders did not contain a warning that he could face serious punishment if he was found in contempt.
Counsel for Abigroup, Jim Murdoch SC, said Mr Carnegie was a key player at the hospital work site picket line last year.
He said Mr Carnegie had “formed a view he was going to defy the court orders, no matter what they were”.
Hands off Bob Carnegie Video by the Maritime Union of Australia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aZbDY1MvOw
