Wild scenes as LNP government temporarily suspends CFMEU’s controversial BPIC policy

Unions are threatening to take to the streets to protect workers’ rights after the LNP suspended the controversial CFMEU tax.

• Explainer: BPIC questions answered
• ‘Strap in for a rollercoaster ride’

Pro-union perks on major state projects have been immediately halted under a major move the new LNP government promises will save taxpayer billions of dollars and speed up construction.

But Queensland’s trade unions warn the move to temporarily suspend Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPICs) will cause project timelines to blow out, cut wages and increase workplace deaths as they vowed to take to the streets to protect workers’ rights.

Construction industry players, including Master Builders Queensland, heralded the freeze on “productivity-sapping” BPIC deals as a significant step forward in getting worksites moving again while still maintaining wages and working conditions.

Deputy Premier and Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie on Thursday revealed BPICs would be temporarily suspended on all future major government projects, including on contracts set to be imminently awarded.

Contracts on existing projects would not be affected, although there would be opportunities for productivity improvements.

Two CFMEU members got removed by security and police after yelling out a question during the Queensland Major Contractors Association Breakfast in Brisbane. Picture: Tertius Pickard

BPICs, put in place by the former Labor government, have long been blamed for spiking project costs and reducing productivity, with the LNP government this week releasing Treasury modelling showing BPICs could cause 22,000 fewer homes to be built between now and mid-2030.

The policy lays out baseline pay and conditions that contractors are expected to provide to workers on major state government construction projects.

The government-prescribed standard BPIC range from pay perks of $100 a week for workers made to use their own mobile phone to prohibiting the use of labour hire for longer than six weeks in a bid to protect job security.

Mr Bleijie said the LNP government’s decision to suspend BPIC “has probably saved Queenslanders billions, not millions,” he said.

“This will relate specifically to the industrial relations element of the best practice principle, while preserving Workplace Health and Safety systems and standards and best practice commitment to apprenticeships and trainees,” Mr Bleijie said.

Tensions erupted at the QMCA breakfast this morning. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

“Let me make it abundantly clear, workers deserve and will be paid well. Workers deserve safe workplaces and will, but productivity must return to construction sites.”

Queensland Major Contractors Association chief executive Andrew Chapman said BPICs “increase the cost of labour and they reduce our productivity on site”.

“There’s hour long pre-starts run by the union … two hour safety meetings that could be called at five minutes notice every day of the week, there is two hours of union downtime throughout each week … plus a 26-day fixed RDO (requested day off) calendar,” he said.

“Productivity drops significantly on site every time there’s a stoppage … removing the threat of BPIC and its impact will hopefully see an improvement in the ability to deliver projects on time and on cost going forward.”

Hutchinson Builders chair Scott Hutchinson said BPICs weren’t to blame for impacting productivity, rather it was unprecedented demand on the construction industry.

He said the skilled labour shortage meant workers would still be able to negotiate enterprise bargaining agreements with conditions similar to BPIC, limiting the impact of the suspension.

The BPIC suspension won’t be lifted until the state government can respond to a review by the soon-to-be established Productivity Commission.

The timeline is uncertain, with the commission set to be up and running by early 2025.

But unions, including the Queensland Council of Unions (QCU), the Electrical Trades Union, and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, have warned the move will jeopardise the delivery of government projects – including fixing the Bruce Highway and the 2032 Games pipeline.

“If Jarrod Bleijie gets away with this we can kiss on-time. on-cost delivery for government infrastructure goodbye,” QCU general secretary Jacqueline King said.

“And the LNP’s legacy will at best see third world Olympic venues built off the back of overseas workers and with industry fatality rates up there with the Qatar World Cup.

“This move by the Deputy Premier also signals the LNP is open to business with non-union contractors offering substandard wages and conditions. A non-union sector will also bring poor safety placing the lives of thousands of Queenslanders at risk.”

ETU Queensland secretary Peter Ong warned the suspension of BPICs, despite Mr Bleijie’s assurances, would impact workers’ wages.

Aerial looking north from Bokarina, showing Sunshine Coast Stadium which will undergo an expansion leading up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games Brisbane 2032.

“By removing BPICs then it puts us back to competitive tendering. The builder will want our EBA contractors because they are better at doing the job but they will also have non-EBA (contractors) in order to tender at a lower rate.

“All we want is to pay people a living wage.” Mr Ong said “100 per cent” the government could expect more strikes more often as unions rally behind workers’ pay and conditions.

A CFMEU spokesman accused Mr Bleijie of planning to cut wages and conditions.

“This will lead to a dangerous deregulation of the labour market and more workers dying on construction sites,” he said.

The Gold Coast Light Rail project under construction at Miami. Picture: Glenn Campbell

The government’s standard BPIC included paying a worker $100 a week if they use their own mobile phone, extra wages if they work 15m above the ground, and double pay when working in the rain.

It also outlined the need for contractors to be paid as well or better than employees covered in BPICs and that labour hire can’t be used for more than six weeks at a site.

For union delegates, employers need to provide a basic airconditioned office complete with iPad and a fax machine.

Productivity schemes were also prohibited without a written agreement.