The Fair Work Building Commission (FWBC) has called dozens of Western Australian workers into court to face charges from protests over jobs in local mines.

Construction workers downed tools in February 28 last year to rally in Perth for more local jobs and content in Western Australia’s mining sector. They have now been served with summons from the FWBC.

The summonses require each of the 76 Crown Construction workers to face fines of $10,200 each.

The FWBC has alleged that the workers building Perth’s new Children’s Hospital did not turn up, walked off site, or refused to perform any work from 7.30am on the day in question. The rally started around midday.

The FWBC will claim that it was unauthorised industrial action, breaching a Fair Work Commission order issued just over a week prior.

“It is simply the government going after ordinary workers for daring to take a stand on the issue of local jobs and better opportunities for their kids,” said CFMEU Construction secretary Dave Noonan, one of the speakers at the rally last year.

“Workers in Australia should be able to participate in a peaceful political protest without the threat of being dragged before the courts by the government,” he said.

The first hearing is scheduled for March 28.