Outrage as hundreds of CFMEU members took three days off for Melbourne Cup

The CFMEU has been slammed for stopping progress on already delayed construction sites after hundreds of union members were able to take three days off for the Melbourne Cup.

Hundreds of CFMEU members were able to utilse three of their 26 regular days off to give them a five-day long weekend over Melbourne Cup.

• CFMEU’s history in Qld

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has slammed the CFMEU for stopping construction sites on the race day that stops the nation after hundreds of union members took three days off for the Melbourne Cup.

CFMEU tradies working on the new Brisbane performing arts centre this week utilised three of their 26 rostered days off (RDO) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, affording them a five-day long weekend over Melbourne Cup.

The $175m centre at Southbank was unveiled by Annastacia Palaszczuk in 2018 and was due to open in 2022 but is now running four years behind schedule.

Flooding and contractor insolvencies have plagued the project with delays, with the former Labor government in May revealing it was unaware of how much the centre will cost by the time it is completed between now and 2026.

Deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie lashed out at the CFMEU. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Under existing Enterprise Bargaining Agreements between CFMEU workers and contractors on Queensland’s large-scale projects, union workers are permitted 26 unscheduled RDOs per year -an additional four weeks outside of calendar public holidays like Christmas, Easter and New Year.

The RDO calendar is preset and agreed to by employees and the union prior to construction commencing, with the additional days off usually scheduled in blocks surrounding public holidays.

A CFMEU spokesman not all union members fell under EBAs and would remain on site during the RDO periods.

But workers on the majority of state-funded projects and high rises do have access to the agreed 26 days.

“For 20 years construction companies have signed up to enterprise agreements with the CFMEU which include RDOs for workers,” the spokesman said.

“These RDOs are often in ‘blocks’ to provide workers proper rest periods.

“Every employer with a CFMEU EBA is well aware of when these RDOs will occur and therefore can plan production accordingly.”

Construction workers across the city walked off the job for a CFMEU-organised protest march into parliament earlier this year, and went to the pub afterwards. Photo Steve Pohlner

The government is expected to set up a productivity commission when parliament returns later this month which will assess the relationship between construction workplace practices and impacts on lost days and project overruns.

Mr Bleijie said the commission would look specifically at the building industry and the CFMEU, but would not say whether schedules RDOs would be affected.

“It’s going to be about driving productivity on work sites in Queensland,” he said.

“The Melbourne Cup may be the race that stops the nation, but the CFMEU is the group that stops construction sites in Queensland.”