Qantas union boss quits after bitter court stoush

Purvinas, whose resignation was conveyed to members on 1 November, had been a key player in the 2011 strike that led to the dramatic grounding of the Qantas fleet by then-CEO Alan Joyce.

Amid a breakdown of Purvinas’ relationships with eight of the 19 members of the federal executive, they met in February this year to pass a resolution that set out they no longer had confidence in him.

Purvinas instituted proceedings in the Federal Court for declarations that the members breached the union’s rules and an order that would restrain them from giving effect to the resolution.

Seven days before it was to be heard, Purvinas withdrew the application.

In a September judgment, Justice Elizabeth Raper of the Federal Court found Purvinas to be a “warrior that flexed his muscles in many Machiavellian ways, including by nib of the pen or the keyboard”.

In her reasons for costs, Justice Raper said the proceedings were vexatious because Purvinas instituted them “for the purpose of causing as much difficulty and embarrassment as possible to the members of the federal executive who had supported the motion”.

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She found Purvinas “saw himself very much as the embodiment of the union” and attended to his position “in a prescriptive and pedantic manner”.

This recently became “even more emboldened” when Purvinas obtained his legal qualifications.

In an attempt to “get in first”, the court heard Purvinas instituted bullying proceedings and secured a WorkCover order that directed him to not have direct contact with eight members for mental health reasons.

The proceedings were ultimately discontinued.

Justice Raper rejected his health claims and accepted evidence that Purvinas told a colleague: “There is nothing wrong with me mate, I am just doing this to keep the majority of these guys off my back”.

In an “extraordinary email” sent to the federal executive shortly after the WorkCover order, Purvinas told them he would attend the next meeting “as he was not prepared to forgo” voting rights.

However, he said the “WorkCover requirements take precedence”, so eight members would not be able to attend and the meeting should be postponed unless they agreed to “demands” about further mediation.

In what Justice Raper said was another example of his Machiavellian behaviour, Purvinas then sent two options to the members.

In the first, he suggested the mediation continue with the full executive team present on the morning of 20 February. If the mediation outcome is reached, the executive meeting can then proceed.

The second option was that there be no mediation and the executive team can only meet informally, because “nine of us will have WorkCover restrictions if we attend”.

“This evidence is stranger than fiction,” Justice Raper said.

“It illustrated Purvinas’ mode of operation – his way or the highway. Members of the federal executive tried to understand from Purvinas, through his conduit … how this could be the case – that he could effectively stultify their ability to have a federal executive meeting.”

When the federal executives sought to meet in early June, the doors to the Sydney union office were locked and staff were gone.

The federal executive soon received an email from Purvinas to inform them he “has not authorised, and do not permit access to, any part of the premises” by any executive member aside from his conduit.

He added an infringement “would constitute trespass”.

“It beggars belief that the federal secretary of a union would deprive the ability of its federal executive to meet at its registered office by locking the doors and sending staff home on the day that he knew that its executives were coming in from all over the country to meet.

“I do not accept his evidence that he did this to avoid stress for the staff or because he did not summons the meeting, [so] a meeting could not take place,” Justice Raper determined.

Purvinas was ordered to pay costs on an indemnity and lump sum basis. The costs were to be assessed by a registrar.