Unions fined $100k after Vic mill strikes

The Australian Building and Construction Commission has scored another win over unions after a court found strikes at the Australian Paper Mill were illegal.

The construction union CFMEU, manufacturing union AMWU, workers union AWU and three officials have been fined a total of $101,500 by the federal court after work stopped for three days at the Mill's de-inking project in March 2014.

In his judgement, Justice Christopher Jessup said the CFMEU's conduct wasn't as grossly lawless as previous cases.

"(But) if there is any union in the industrial universe which should be acutely aware of the importance of understanding the boundaries of lawful conduct in the prosecution of disputes, it is this one," he said.