CFMEU faces Qld inquiry over alleged threats in pay negotiations

Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie says employee agreements have often been signed by businesses while the CFMEU “held a gun to their head”.

• Editor’s view: It just gets worse
• FAQ: Union probe explained

High wages and generous conditions the CFMEU extracted from businesses using threats and coercion could have breached federal law.

Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie said enterprise bargaining and Best Practice Industry Conditions agreements – which set pay, leave and weather policy for construction workers – were often signed by businesses while the CFMEU “held a gun to their head”.

The agreements, which Mr Bleijie said were sometimes signed after the CFMEU disrupted construction sites and threatened violence, delivered high pay, low productivity and caused building costs to soar.

THIS STORY JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE. READ TODAY’S EDITORIAL AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION

How the CFMEU extracted generous pay and conditions entitlements from businesses - and whether they breached Commonwealth law – will be probed by the state’s commission of inquiry.

The Fair Work Act stipulates enterprise bargaining should be underpinned by simple good faith.

Mr Bleijie said testimony from business owners that they would not have signed a pay deal with the CFMEU had they not had threats against them would expose contracts that were not entered into good faith.

“The coercion that was shown in the Watson report (into the Queensland CFMEU) effectively said that businesses were signing up to EBs because they essentially had a gun to their head by the CFMEU,” he said.

However, Mr Bleijie said there would be no changes for workers and no watering down of conditions or wages.

“We want workers to be well paid, we want them to go to work safe,” he said.

Industrial Relations Minister Jarrod Bleijie on Thursday. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“But we also want a free and fair negotiation in marketing with the unions and construction industry and I might add, most unions do this freely and fairly all the time.

“The CFMEU doesn’t and they put a gun to their head.”

Major Contractors Association Andrew Chapman said the issue could amount to criminal behaviour, and should be investigated for any breach of the Fair Work Act.

“So many businesses could say they were coerced, where businesses come out and say they have been coerced and have evidence to show that should be investigated, it’s criminal behaviour,” he said.

“It goes completely against the Fair Work Act.”

It comes as the amid reports a Gold Coast property developer paid $110,000 to a gangland associate to secure industrial peace with the CFMEU in Queensland.

Mr Bleijie revealed the commission of inquiry’s terms of reference would be expanded to investigate any infiltration of criminal gangs in Queensland and provide powers to compel gangland figures to provide evidence.

“It’s important that this Royal Commission has all the powers necessary and all the terms of reference as sufficiently broad as possible to investigate not only the industrial disputation that we’ve seen over the last 10 years on construction sites, but also the underworld, underbelly, criminal activity, criminal gang links,” he said.

Federal Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said the federal Labor government was taking the strongest possible action to crack down on the CFMEU.

The terms of reference of the commission of inquiry and who leads it will be announced next week.

It will have the power to call witnesses and order the production of documents.

Originally published as CFMEU faces Qld inquiry over alleged threats in pay negotiations