Setka’s stubbornness will cost all unions — not just CFMMEU
If the modern union movement wants to continue its fight for pay equity, domestic violence leave and creating safe work spaces for women there is no question left as to what to do with John Setka, writes David Speers.
Anthony Albanese’s motivation was right, but his execution was wrong as he tried to bring down one of the union movement’s toughest characters this week.
The Labor leader should have been better prepared to take on John Setka, the union hard man from central casting.
Setka is a creature of the biggest, baddest division of Australia’s construction union. His father was one of the few survivors of the Westgate Bridge collapse in 1970, Australia’s worst industrial accident. He became an organiser in the BLF, before it was deregistered in the 1980s. Setka then rose through the ranks of the CFMMEU in the 90s and now carries more numbers, dollars, loyalty and muscle than most union leaders could dream of.
MORE FROM RENDEZVIEW: Why did Labor ignore its Setka problem for so long?
Along the way, he’s earned quite a rap sheet and a reputation.
But it’s not his behaviour on work sites that’s seen both the Labor leader and the ACTU National Secretary come after him this week. It’s his attitude to domestic violence.
This has become a crucial issue for an increasingly feminised union movement. There are now nearly twice as many nurses and midwives in the broader union movement than construction and maritime workers.
John Setka has been charged with using a carriage service to harass an unnamed woman. It is alleged he sent 45 text messages in one night, including calling the woman a “weak f****n piece of s**t”. He has told the court he intends to plead guilty.
He’s separately accused of telling a meeting of the CFMMEU National Executive last week that men have “fewer rights” thanks to the work of domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty. This, he vehemently denies.
RELATED: Susie O’Brien: While John Setka has power, Labor is compromised
Setka and his wife Emma Walters, fronted a press conference on Wednesday to acknowledge they have both said and done things they’re not proud of. “We are working very hard together to rebuild our marriage,” Walters said.
Both insist for all his faults, Setka has never denigrated the work of Rosie Batty.
Others who were at the meeting have publicly backed Setka on this. Even the ACTU boss Sally McManus is satisfied this claim is off the mark. “He never said anything to denigrate Rosie Batty”, she said. “It’s just been reported in a way that’s not correct.”
Yet this is the key reason Albanese has cited for his demand Setka be expelled from the ALP.
The Labor leader says he’s spoken to others who were there, but he can’t name his sources. The evidence for this claim against Setka now looks thin.
That’s not to say he shouldn’t be expelled from the ALP. He presumably will be when the party’s National Executive meets on July 5 to consider the matter.
RELATED: John Setka resists ACTU call to resign
To defy Albanese, in his first test of authority, would be a humiliation for the new leader.
Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party can do little, however, about John Setka’s position at the CFMMEU. He is determined to stay. The members want him to stay. Solidarity forever.
Another powerful left-wing union, the Electrical Trades Union, is siding with Setka.
Others, however, are not. Sally McManus has been joined by the shoppies’ union, United Voice, the Australian Services Union and the CPSU in demanding he step down.
They argue Setka is damaging their broader union movement. They’re absolutely right.
This divide in the union movement is about the sort of face it wants to present as it tries to halt the steady decline in membership that’s seen it go from representing 51 per cent of the workforce 40 years ago, to 14 per cent today.
This modern face involves fighting for pay equity for women, domestic violence leave and a “living wage” for those on the lowest incomes. John Setka is not that face.
RELATED: Labor’s glass house has now shattered irreparably
Unlike Albanese, McManus is focusing on the actual charges against Setka, not the disputed account of what he said behind closed doors about Rosie Batty. While not prejudging the case, she says “there is no place for perpetrators of domestic violence in leadership positions in our movement”.
It’s a simple position of principle and hard to dispute the logic, notwithstanding McManus’ own complicated view that it’s OK to break “unjust” laws.
Albanese would have been better to adopt a similar position, rather than becoming tangled in the weeds over disputed evidence.
The important thing is the leadership of the Labor Party and the union movement are united in wanting Setka gone.
If he continues to dig in and remains in his leadership position, the CFMMEU’s relationship with both the ACTU and the ALP will be awkward to say the least.
It’s unlikely the union will disaffiliate, but a formal breakup wouldn’t be such a bad thing for Albanese anyway.
It might finally give Labor some clear air from the rogue elements of this union.
It’s been a messier than expected fight this week and the new Labor leader should have prepared his ammunition better, but he can still prevail with enhanced authority and a better party for it.
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