A rabid media campaign about criminality and corruption in the Victorian branch of the CFMEU has produced calls to deregister the union and moves by the Labor government to appoint a court administrator to “clean it out”.
The corruption allegations are already being investigated by the federal CFMEU—and reporting that is largely a media beat up doesn’t justify a government takeover or attack on the union.
Construction bosses and both state and federal Labor governments have seized on the opportunity to launch a more fundamental attack on one of the strongest unions in the country.
The Victorian Premier is calling for CFMEU agreements to be reviewed and terminated. And the NSW Master Builders Association says such a review could make it easier for companies in NSW to reject the latest CFMEU agreement.
The Master Builders Association in Victoria has already called on the police, the ACCC and the Fair Work Ombudsman to investigate whether recent EBAs have been signed “under duress”.
Unionists everywhere should defend the CFMEU against the bosses’ and Labor Party attacks and oppose any government-imposed administration or move to deregister the union.
The CFMEU took action as soon as the allegations surfaced, putting the Victorian and SA branches into administration, with the national office taking control and announcing an independently-run investigation.
CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith has already declared that, “External administration and further interference of the government isn’t necessary,” and that, “If there is any wrongdoing found, people will be removed from our ranks.”
CFMEU Victorian Secretary John Setka resigned immediately on Friday.
Media campaign
Most of the media’s claims of criminality are thin.
For all the lurid headlines about links to organised crime and underworld figures, all the Nine Papers have uncovered is four current or former members of bikie gangs with positions as CFMEU delegates on construction sites, and that John Setka knew underworld figure Mick Gatto. The union has hundreds of delegates across major building sites in Melbourne to defend workers’ rights.
The Nine Papers also claim the union has helped construction companies linked to organised crime gain work on major construction projects—but provided only anonymously-sourced quotes as evidence.
It ran a series of stories on self-described “CFMEU fixer” Harry Korras, who boasted about his connections with the CFMEU and asked for bribes to set up a meeting with the union about getting a company work on building sites. But the meeting never happened and the paper had no evidence Korras had any real ties with the union.
The CFMEU in Victoria is one of the strongest unions in the country, delivering on wages and conditions for its members. It has long been a thorn in the side of the big building companies, demanding workers share in their multi-million dollar profits.
Last month it held a mass meeting of 4000 members that voted up a new deal that will see wage rises of 5 per cent every year for the next four years, an above-inflation pay rise.
It controls big construction sites through maintaining close to 100 per cent union membership. The Nine Papers have complained that this means, “The CFMEU has the power to keep out companies with non-union agreements or to favour companies it prefers.”
This is not something sinister; it is evidence of the union strength on the job needed to ensure all companies and sub-contractors on site deliver union rates and conditions. In an industry where shonky fly-by-night operators are rife and dozens of sub-contracting companies are constantly moving on and off sites, this is a major achievement.
Any union official who tries to exploit their union position to make money for themselves should go. But there is nothing wrong with union support for companies that pay EBA rates and maintain a good track record on safety and respect for workers’ rights.
There are plenty of reasons to criticise John Setka’s reign as Victorian secretary of the CFMEU. He should have stepped down in 2019 when he pled guilty to domestic violence charges. His vendettas against rival union officials have undermined the union and have been a substitute for struggle and rank-and-file mobilisation.
But Labor’s real concern with Setka is that he was one of the few union leaders willing to defy the anti-strike laws and to demand that Labor removes the restrictions on workers’ right to strike.
Corruption weakens the union movement and opens it up to attack from the government and the bosses. It was construction union leader Norm Gallagher’s corruption, in accepting building materials for a beach house from construction bosses, which helped justify Labor deregistering the Builders’ Labourers Federation, the precursor of the CFMEU, in 1986. Labor then pushed the wage-cutting policy of the Accord.
We have to make sure the current media frenzy about corruption isn’t used again as an excuse to attack or weaken the CFMEU. Every union needs to stand with the CFMEU and oppose any Labor government intervention in the union. Touch one, touch all.
