City Beat: Union fury over Master Builders’ $1m JobKeeper snare amid mass lay-offs

The CFMEU is demanding the Master Builders Association return $1.05m in JobKeeper income it received at the same time it allegedly got rid of about a quarter of its workers.

The streets of Melbourne are not the only place where there’s been union-related dust up this week.

The Brisbane outpost of the CFMEU took aim Wednesday at their industry nemesis, the Master Builders Association of Queensland, over JobKeeper payments and staff cuts.

Specifically, the head of the militant construction union demanded that Master Builders return $1.05m in JobKeeper income that it received in the 2020 financial year while allegedly laying off about a quarter of their workers at the same time.

“MBAQ chief executive Grant Galvin took this money as they were shedding staff and used it to prop up a set of accounts which show only a minimal dip in revenue – certainly nowhere remotely near the 30 per cent dip that would have rightfully entitled them to the support,’’ firebrand union boss Michael Ravbar said.

“Just who does Grant Galvin think he is, Gerry Harvey?”

CFMEU boss Michael Ravbar. Picture: Attila Csaszar

That, of course, was a reference to the Harvey Norman boss who belatedly repaid $6m in August of the $22m in Jobkeeper support received by his retail group as it racked up a record profit last year.

To avoid any speculation about possible hypocrisy, the CFMEU made clear it neither sought nor accepted Jobkeeper assistance.

Galvin returned the union’s fire immediately but he pointedly made no comment about returning any of the money.

Instead, he noted that Master Builders lost more than $2m in revenue during the period and the JobKeeper payments helped a majority of his team stay at work.

“Prior to the announcement of JobKeeper, and in direct response to the downturn in revenue, we stood down or placed some staff on reduced hours,’’ he said.

“However, the support of JobKeeper allowed us to reinstate these staff to full capacity within two months.’’

Master Builders Queensland CEO Grant Galvin.

The HomeBuilder grant also helped Master Builders return a profit and discount membership fees despite a dip in revenue, Galvin said.

Master Builders, which has about 8800 members across the state, delivered a $759,000 surplus in 2020, according to its annual report. Revenue fell slightly to just over $20m.

Ravbar savaged the group as a “$20m a year propaganda machine’’ which outlaid $2m in executive salaries.

The attack comes just two weeks after Ravbar was effectively barred from some of the state’s biggest building sites after dropping his bid for a federal right of entry permit.