The Federal Court of Australia fined the CFMEU and five of its officials a total of $545,000 for unlawful coercion at a building site of a taxpayer-funded housing project for homeless people.

In its judgment, the court accused the CFMEU of "outrageous disregard" of Australian industrial norms.

It said any industrial organisation, "be it an employer organisation or an employee organisation, which persistently abuses the privilege by engaging in unlawful conduct cannot expect to remain registered".

In its penalty judgment, the Court said "there can be no doubt" the CFMEU's behaviour in this case "was neither unique to that site or to those times".

The court heard the CFMEU and its officials disrupted work at a construction site in Brisbane to force head contractor Grocon into signing an enterprise agreement.

CFMEU official Joseph Myles was singled out for special criticism and fined $40,000. His CFMEU colleagues Paul Cradden and Mark O'Brien were also fined $30,000 each. CFMEU delegate Jack Cummins was fined $25,000 and CFMEU official Mike Davis, $20,000.

The CFMEU organisation was fined $400,000.

The union was found to have blocked the main gate to the building site with vehicles to stop Grocon employees, subcontractors and delivery people from entering. The union officials were also found to have made verbal threats against company employees.

The court heard that Mr Myles threatened to influence the future job prospects of some employees and Mr Cradden told a sub-contractor it would be "committing industrial" suicide if it entered the building site.

Mr Cradden was said to have whispered: "You're f-----d" in the site manager's ear.

And Mr O'Brien was said to have taunted a Grocon foreman saying: "Hey scabby, gay boy, gay boy, gay boy, scabby."

"It's amazing what people become, once a f------g union delegate hey, that piece of shit there, used to be a union delo."

Mr Cradden also said words to the effect of: "You know when all this sh-t is over, it's just beginning for you then isn't it, the union covers the whole of f-----g Australia."

The Federal Court said on Friday: "The individual respondents in this case are exemplars of the union organisers and delegates displaying a disregard or contempt for the rule of law"

"Mr Myles strikes me as a union official who is predisposed to engage in unlawful conduct to supplement legitimate industrial aims. A very real question indeed necessarily emerges in relation to Mr Myles as to whether he ought to continue to enjoy any privileges under any industrial law, state or federal," the Court said.

The court also ordered the CFMEU pay $10,000 in costs to the Fair Work Building Commission.

Fair Work Building Commission director Nigel Hadgkiss said coercion is "particularly heinous conduct" and has widespread impacts on Australia's building and construction industry.

"Regrettably the conduct outlined in this case is but day to day activity on Australia's building and construction sites, hence, undertaking investigations of this kind are very much part of FWBC's increasing core business," he said.