The CFMEU in Victoria has failed to have blackmail charges against its leaders thrown out.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Victoria secretary John Setka and his deputy Shaun Reardon sought to have their charges of criminal blackmail dismissed.

The charges relate to a meeting with two managers of the concrete company Boral amid an industrial campaign with construction firm Grocon in 2013.

Mr Setka allegedly told Boral managers that the CFMEU wanted to cut off Grocon's concrete supply.

Boral was allegedly warned that the union would target its concrete delivery trucks and concrete batchers for membership if management did not cooperate.

A panel of three Supreme Court judges rejected Mr Setka and Mr Reardon's argument that they were immune from prosecution under secondary boycott laws.

“This was said to be because the conduct which is the subject of the blackmail charges, if established, would render [Mr Setka and Mr Reardon] liable for a pecuniary penalty under [the Competition and Consumer Act],” the judges said.

The ruling means committal hearings will proceed in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in coming months.

The CFMEU noted that the judgement coincided with the fifth anniversary of a deadly wall collapse in Swanston Street, Melbourne.

“It is ironic that on the same day John Setka and Shaun Reardon are laying a wreath at the scene of the Swanston Street wall collapse … a tragedy that found Grocon guilty of criminal charges, the Government continues to pursue the two men for doing the job they were paid to do, and that's save lives,” said CFMEU construction division national secretary Dave Noonan.

“The CFMEU and indeed the entire union movement stand shoulder to shoulder with these two men in a system that is clearly broken down.”