The CFMEU's behaviour in Queensland looks less like a union and more like an organised crime outfit, two of the world's leading criminologists say.
Professors Federico Varese and Paolo Campana say the union's alleged conduct was likely to fall within criminal governance, where a group uses fear, pressure and back‑room influence to control a market.
"The allegations concerning the union are consistent with several of these features," Prof Varese told the Queensland Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU on Thursday.
He said alleged extortion, threats of industrial action, control of enterprise bargaining agreements for government work and contractors paying CFMEU delegates were all examples of criminal governance.
"While this could be taken as single crimes or single unlawful behaviour, taken together they paint a picture of an entity that tries to control a market and excludes competitors, be it a competing union or some contractors," he said.
