Former CFMEU boss John Setka given $450,000 to leave construction union

The amount of money John Setka was paid to walk away from the scandal-plagued construction union CFMEU has been revealed.

Former CFMEU leader John Setka. Picture: NewsWire/ Roy VanDerVegt

Former CFMEU boss John Setka was given a $450,000 golden parachute to walk away from the construction union after it was exposed as being infiltrated by outlaw bikies.

Payouts were also made to two of Setka’s key lieutenants, assistant branch secretaries Elias Spernovasilis and Derek Christopher with the total redundancy bill costing at least $1m.

Sources say Spernovasilis walked away with $300,000 while his colleague, Christopher, was paid $250,000.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any of the men.

It comes as Setka can be revealed to have launched a worker’s compensation claim for post traumatic stress disorder he reportedly attributes to receiving death threats while running the union.

A spokesman for the CFMEU said: “It is not appropriate for the CFMEU Administration to comment on redundancies paid out to removed officials, other than to note that all removed officials received their legal entitlement.”

The payments were believed to be after-tax figures.

Former CFMEU boss John Setka was paid $450,000 to leave the construction union, it has been revealed. Picture: AAP

It is understood that at a recent union delegates meeting there was a call to raise money for the former union leaders even though they had received redundancy payments.

The CFMEU was placed into administration on August 23 when the federal government introduced a law to crack down on rogue behaviour in the construction industry.

The union has been accused of illegitimately using its power in the industry to favour companies over others to provide services, including labour hire, on large sites.

Those contracts can be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Since the scandal-plagued CFMEU was put into administration threats have been levelled at former union officials, with one putting their home up for sale.

It is understood a union official has been carrying a firearm because of fears for their safety.

Administrator Mark Irving, KC, has been trying to clean up the union after he was appointed by Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong in August.

The building industry has been in turmoil since the CFMEU was placed into administration, with sources claiming that bikie figures remain embedded on sites across the country.

Former CFMEU leader John Setka. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Police warned Mr Irving in October that he had been the subject of personal death threats from underworld figures, with the Administration now taking steps to protect him.

It has also been reported that the Administration had been forced to employ additional security teams to protect union headquarters in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane due to threats from underworld figures.

Organised crime figures being forced out of the industry have been targeting remaining organisers who have the power to control which companies can access lucrative contracts.

A defiant Mr Setka broke his silence this week, lashing out in a social media post at Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke.

Mr Setka said he had resigned to protect the union, not because he had “done anything wrong”.

The powerful union figure, who ran the CFMEU in Victoria from 2012 to 2024, also claimed he would “name and shame” those who had “destroyed” the union.

The CFMEU’s demise had shaken the links between unions and the Labor Party.

The Electrical Trades Union has vowed to withhold millions of dollars in donations ahead of next year’s Federal Election in protest at the CFMEU being placed into Administration.