Subbies at loggerheads with union over big project BPIC rules
Allegations of bullying and intimidation have been levelled against the CFMEU by Cairns subcontractors who have claimed to be frozen out of work on big state government projects. But the union has hit back.
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Allegations of bullying and intimidation have been levelled against the CFMEU by Cairns subcontractors who have claimed to be frozen out of work on big state government projects.
But the union says all it wants is a fair go for workers.
It’s claimed small to medium sized construction business quoting jobs on projects where Best Practice Industry Conditions apply have been persuaded to do deals with the union in exchange for work with Tier 1 companies taking the lead on jobs such as the Cairns Convention Centre, JCU’s Cairns Tropical Enterprise Centre, the HMAS Cairns expansion and the Cairns Hospital’s mental health unit upgrade.
It’s alleged CFMEU dictates which subcontractors are used and refuses to allow managing contractors to hire subbies not signed up to unionised enterprise bargaining agreements in an effective black-listing of local firms.
The managing director of a Cairns business who requested anonymity said there was a reluctance to sign up to a union EBA due to an additional outlay in order to comply with union rules and regulations.
“It doesn’t work in regional centres,” he said.
“If you were in the south east there are union jobs everywhere but it just doesn’t work regionally.
“All (the government) needs to do is say ‘you need to comply with safety standards and wages’.
“We are happy to comply with whatever it takes but we can’t sign a union EBA.”
It’s estimated compliance with the BPIC scheme adds an estimated 30 per cent to the cost of doing business, which then has to be passed on to the customer, making the business uncompetitive when quoting on bread and butter non-union jobs.
The $176m Convention Centre upgrade project in 2020 was a test case for the roll out of
best practice principles on major state-funded projects that largely mirror CFMEU industry agreements.
Industry insiders say the Convention Centre project gave the CFMEU a foothold from which the movement has grown a powerful sphere of influence.
“The bullying and coercion happening in Cairns is far more than in Townsville, they are ruthless up here,” the source said
“The fundamental problem is the BPIC process, they say you have to use unions and you have to get a union delegate involved.
“The BPIC policy is giving them the power to do what they are doing.”
CFMEU divisional branch assistant secretary Kane Lowth was among the 21 leaders terminated after the embattled union was plunged into administration in August.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by him.
Speaking as a former union boss, Mr Lowth countered claims by stating BPIC was designed to create a level playing field by stamping out postcode discrimination while providing better wages, safe work sites and increased opportunities for women and Indigenous workers.
“What we have here is small to medium-sized businesses that don’t want to comply with BPIC, it has nothing to do with the union, it’s the fact that they don’t like BPIC,” he said.
“A carpenter in Cairns should not be paid any less than a carpenter in Brisbane, they’re delivering the same standard with the same skills.
“We make no apologies for better wages when people are struggling with the cost of living.
“We won’t apologise for the wages and safety that we deliver on jobs in general.”
Mr Lowth said it’s “a fallacy” that construction under best practice rules drives up project costs, while refuting claims of bullying and intimidation.
Earlier this year union workers received a five per cent pay rise which will continue every year until the end of the BPIC agreement in 2027.
Qualified tradespeople will be paid nearly $1,948 a week.
By 2027, the same tradespeople will be paid $2,351 a week, jumping from $54.12 an hour to $65.78.
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch has called for a forensic investigation into the relationships between the CFMEU, the Labor Party, Tier 1 contractors and the collective impact of the BPIC policy in Far North Queensland.
“The CFMEU is holding our region’s local construction and building industry to ransom,” he said.
“I’ve had many contractors, building companies and other local industry figures reach out to me to express their concerns with the CFMEU’s stranglehold on major projects.
“These local contractors and smaller businesses are being silenced by fear and intimidation, unable to speak openly about the coercive tactics and extortionate directives that bar them from working in their own region on local projects.”
The Cairns construction source said due to few specialist companies in certain industries locally, work was being handed to southern firms with union EBAs already in place.
“We have quoted all these jobs, (the managing contractor) verbally has recommended us and it has gone down to head office and we don’t get the job,” he said.
“The builders have so much at stake they are going to comply with the union’s demands.”
Best Practice Principles has also been blamed for budget blowouts on major union projects such as the Cairns Hospital mental health unit that was due for completion in February 2022, but is now not expected to welcome patients until early next year.
The $70m union build led by Hutchinson Builders Cairns is now 31 months behind schedule.
The $176m Cairns Convention Centre was delayed three times to open almost three years behind schedule in September 2023.
“All these major projects have great big CFMEU and the Eureka Stockade flag flying high and that is a very clear sign that the project will experience massive cost overruns, it will be chronically delayed and bullying, and intimidation will be rampant on site if the CFMEU doesn’t get its way,” Mr Entsch said.
But Mr Lowth accused Mr Entsch of parroting Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash, who pushed for the deregistering of the “militant” CFMEU following allegations the group had been infiltrated by bikies and criminals.
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