Editorial: Labor must stand up to union mates

Based on its track record, it is unlikely the state Labor government will be willing to pick a big fight with the CFMEU, writes the editor.

Labor governments always find it hard to deal with union demands, particularly Labor governments led by a premier who is in the job only because union bosses gave them the nod, which is the case with most.

But surely they should make some effort to consider the greater good before every time caving into the latest above-the-odds demands from unions, particularly from those whose tactics oscillate between militant and criminal.

Yesterday, CFMEU workers on Brisbane’s massive Cross River Rail project barricaded the site over unmet demands for huge pay rises that would see an entry-level construction worker paid almost a quarter of a million dollars annually.

The protest was the latest bid by the CFMEU to expand the Miles government-sanctioned Best Practice Industries Policy (BPIC) to all big government construction sites around the state, including the Cross River Rail project, which is currently not BPIC-covered.

Earlier this month, The Courier-Mail reported that under BPIC, some workers get a full month of rostered days off, double time when it rains and a $1000 a week if they have to work away from home – conditions that Premier Steven Miles was unrepentant for, saying he wanted the government to be a model employer in the male-dominated construction industry no matter the cost to taxpayers.

Now, unions exist to advocate for their members. On that measure, the CFMEU is perhaps the state’s most successful – the morality of its tactics aside. We also acknowledge that yesterday’s industrial action was legally sanctioned.

But that does not mean the Miles government – no matter how beholden it is to the unions – should just sit back and say all of this has got nothing to do with them.

And yet that is exactly what happened yesterday, with Transport Minister Bart Mellish saying the dispute was a matter between the union and the major contractor, CPB Contractors.

The minister is technically correct. But there is much more at stake here than a union and a contractor vigorously negotiating a new enterprise bargaining agreement.

This is also about the state’s most militant union trying to force its extravagant terms and conditions – deals so expensive they are known as the “CFMEU tax” – on to every big government construction project in the state, and through that into the private sector.

After all, why would tradies work for the private sector when they can earn so much more on a CFMEU-sanctioned state government site, with conditions that essentially guarantee a four-day working week.

This is not only forcing up costs by up to 30 per cent or more, it is also affecting productivity – and making it all but impossible for the private sector to fund, and therefore build, anything ... while house prices soar due to supply not even coming close to keeping up with demand.

But again, this is the union’s right. The issue here is that state Labor ministers continue to cave to these ridiculously generous demands, unapologetically: “We are not afraid to take steps to ensure workers are properly paid on government projects,” the Premier says.

Properly paid is one thing, but extortionately so?

There is little evidence this government has ever properly challenged the CFMEU on its ever-increasing demands for ever-more-generous terms and conditions.

One of the biggest tasks of any state government is to balance the interests of all of constituents – not just unions with the power to wreak havoc if they don’t get their way.

But with an election now less than six months away, and based on its track record, it is unlikely the Miles government will be willing to pick a big fight with the CFMEU.

That said, whatever the outcome of this stoush between the CFMEU and CPB Contractors, a priority for whichever party wins power in the October election will have to be how to rein in construction costs – costs that are being fuelled by unchecked union demands.

BONZA A LOSS TO STATE

Competition in the market is always a good thing: it keeps businesses sharp (and so customers win) and helps ensure a lid on prices (and so the customers win again).

The demise of short-lived airline Bonza is then a terrible shame. The nation’s airline market is basically a duopoly, but smaller operators do help keep the dominant brands as honest as possible.

In the case of Bonza, a swag of Queensland communities that are ill-served in terms of air travel also benefited – with services direct to other state capitals changing the lives of many in our state.

In coming weeks we will no doubt learn the reasons why Bonza had to enter voluntary administration yesterday after its leased aircraft were repossessed.

But those revelations will be of cold comfort to the many regional Queenslanders who were starting to rely on the airline for much easier travel across the country.

Our thoughts are also with all of Bonza’s employees – many of them based out of the Sunshine Coast. We hope Qantas and Virgin – which did the right thing in flying some affected passengers home yesterday – will have a job for them.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here