The CFMEU threatens chaos over Turnbull government’s new building code

THE CFMEU has declared it will not follow the Coalition’s new building code, escalating an already bitter conflict.

CFMEU construction and general national secretary, Dave Noonan, said the union defy the new building code by “all means available.” Picture: Kelly Barnes/The Australian

THE nation’s largest builders risk being barred from further federal projects after the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) told the Turnbull government it would not renegotiate hundreds of workplace deals to adhere to the Coalition’s new building code.

According to The Australian, conflict between the Coalition and the CFMEU escalated as the powerful union steeled its opposition to the code, affirming it would defy the new regime “by all means available”.

CFMEU construction and general national Secretary, Dave Noonan, said the impasse could disrupt future federal projects. Picture: Kelly Barnes/The Australian

Dave Noonan, the CFMEU construction and general national Secretary, told The Australian the impasse could likely disrupt federal projects.

“If the government chooses to continue to try and take away construction workers’ job security, any disruption to government projects will be the result of their own policy, not as a result of anything the union has done,’’ he told The Australian. “It’s possible.”

“It really depends on whether the government is going to persist in threatening to blacklist employers who have entered into perfectly lawful agreements with their workforce and their union. Everyone in the industry knows the government’s approach to this has been an absolute disaster.”

Senator Michaelia Cash said the CFMEU must obey the law just like everyone else. Picture: Supplied

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash and builders blasted the union’s stance, declaring major companies, including Lendlease and Multiplex, could be banned from tendering for government projects unless the Coalition retreated or employers bypassed the union and negotiated non-union deals.

“Australia’s most corrupt union must obey the law just like everyone else,’’ Senator Cash said. “As usual, the victims of the CFMEU’s lawless approach will be the CFMEU’s own members, who will potentially be denied work on hundreds of millions of dollars of construction projects.”

The CFMEU had previously threatened to seek extra pay rises in exchange for agreeing to give up conditions to make hundreds of enterprise agreements comply with the code.

CFMEU secretary Dave Noonan said the union would be sticking to the agreements currently in place. Picture: Kelly Barnes/The Australian

But Mr Noonan revealed the union’s construction division executive had decided it was not prepared to give up conditions and rewrite agreements that had been legally negotiated under federal workplace laws.

“Our position is, where we have agreements which comply with the Fair Work Act, we are sticking with those agreements,’’ he said.

A resolution, passed by the executive, rejects the code “as an attack on the rights of workers in the construction and related industries and on their families and communities”.

“The code discriminates against these workers and promotes job insecurity, poor safety and the exploitation of temporary visa workers,’’ it says.

“The union will resist by all means available the imposition of the code and will continue to fight for the repeal of the ABCC legislation.”

Read more at The Australian.