Melbourne’s construction industry chaos is bringing the city to its knees
As NSW prepares for an orderly return of its vaccinated construction workers, the CFMEU in Melbourne has shut down the city for a second day with ugly protests.
NSW
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NSW construction sites will be able to go back to full capacity so long as workers meet vaccine requirements, making for a stark contrast with Victoria where the industry has been all but shut down in retaliation for a second day of ugly demonstrations by a CFMEU mob.
The news is expected to be a huge boost for the local economy with construction directly employing around 380,000 people and representing around $46.8 billion per year worth of activity.
Tuesday’s announcement came after weeks of negotiation as unions and construction companies pushed to increase strict 50% site capacity limits that had left many fully vaccinated workers unable to go to work.
And it came in stark contrast to scenes out of Melbourne where construction workers lit flares, blocked traffic, and fought with police protesting their state’s vaccination requirements for the industry as well as lockdowns believed to have gone on longer in Melbourne than any other city in the world.
“The construction industry is a key driver of economic activity in the state and the industry will play an integral role in reviving the NSW economy in the wake of the pandemic,” said NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, announcing the change, which kicks in next Monday.
Representatives of the construction industry cheered the change.
“After doing everything right there were situations where fully vaccinated tradies were turning up to sites and being knocked back due to the 50% cap,” said Luke Achterstraat, NSW Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia.
“So it’s fantastic to see that this will no longer happen and that thousands of jobs will be saved.”
The end to restrictions on unoccupied construction sites is understood to have been the result of the Construction Industry Working Group, which participants say can be a model for reopening other sectors of the economy post-Covid.
Made up of developers, builders, unions, and government representatives, the body met every day for over a month to hash out concerns and find a way forward.
While there was some trepidation at the start, “after a week it became obvious we were all on the same page,” said businessman and chair of the Greater Western Sydney Giants, Tony Shepherd.
“Union representatives were very sensible and constructive, but every issue they raised was sensible and in the best issue of their members.
“Going to 100% is a reward to unions and their members for being so sensible and constructively engaged – it’s a great result,” he said, adding that the safety first nature of the construction industry meant that there was already a framework in place for dealing with Covid.
“They were able to adjust their protocols because that was already part of the culture,” he said.
Ever since caps were put on NSW construction sites last August, the industry has been pushing to increase the levels of vaccination among members to get everyone back to work.
But remarking on the scenes of mayhem coming out of Melbourne, Shepherd said, “I’m not sure in Victoria the unions had this sort of arrangement and that’s why they weren’t able to bring their members along.”
On Tuesday protesters angry about Victoria’s vaccine mandate for the construction industry took to the streets for a second day after confronting CFMEU boss John Setka outside union headquarters Monday.
The marchers, wearing high-viz, marched through Melbourne’s CBD, convening at state parliament, CFMEU headquarters, and Flinders Street Station, before blocking the Westgate Bridge.
Vision seen on Twitter included what appeared to be unmarked Victoria Police vehicles driving through crowds of kicking protesters as well as demonstrators.
“NSW has demonstrated that a best practice model including rapid antigen testing and public health orders to drive vaccination can get construction going safely. Throughout this outbreak, NSW has worked closely with industry to problem solve and develop solutions in partnership,” said Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott.
“By contrast, Victoria’s snap shutdown of the entire sector will put the recovery at risk and undermine confidence in the state’s slow reopening plan,” she said.
Peter Joe, who works installing fire safety infrastructure at the Sydney Football Stadium redevelopment, said “productivity will go through the roof” following the return of the full workforce.
“It means everyone can get in, get their hands dirty and then move on to other jobs around Sydney,” he said.
“Our workforce, we’ve had to make do with what we’ve got…with 100 per cent back, it’s better for the workforce, the speed of work will pick up.”
George Upton, an electrician at the redevelopment, told The Telegraph “it’ll be good to get everyone back on site”.
With check-in codes required and stringent health protocols followed on construction sites, he said workers were “prepared” for a 100 per cent return.
“We should be in good stead when it all comes back - we should be prepared.”
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