Matt Johnston: CFMEU’s tea room rumour no surprise

Claims a CFMEU delegate told Metro Tunnel workers to go home because there weren’t enough chairs in their tea room is no surprise to industry insiders, given the incredible power the union now holds on work sites.

• CFMEU construction worker entitlements, conditions outlined

Last week a rumour spread that a CFMEU delegate told workers on the $14bn Metro Tunnel to go home because there weren’t enough chairs in their tea room.

While the Allan government said project builders had “no knowledge of this alleged incident”, industry figures said they wouldn’t be surprised if it was true given the incredible power the union now holds on work sites.

For the past two years, the Victorian division of the CFMEU, led by John Setka, has been on an industrial rampage.

It has taken control of the taxpayer-funded Big Build and has dictated which companies get on site as suppliers.

This means that companies that had a workplace deal with their rival, the Australian Workers Union, were shown the door, while CFMEU-aligned subcontractors got jobs – sometimes at inflated prices.

John Setka, the Victorian CFMEU’s controversial leader, speaks during a rally in the city. Picture: David Crosling

Last year the Fair Work Ombudsman started an investigation into complaints about First Nations subcontractors being cut from jobs because of their alliances with the AWU, but a report is not yet finalised.

Setka says the union just wants to get a better deal for workers who live the “Aussie Dream” and dismisses complaints about thuggery and intimidation.

The Andrews and Allan governments have spent a decade passing the buck about complaints about taxpayer-funded sites.

It says industrial relations is a matter for the project builders, and that even if it wanted to investigate IR issues those powers were ceded to the Commonwealth in the 1990s.

Some global construction giants had resisted the CFMEU’s bid for more control before the pandemic, but those battles have gone quiet.

Those companies now appear content to shrug shoulders and pass costs down the chain, figuring it would be better to deal with the devil than have jobs delayed and budgets torpedoed by union delegates expert at shutting down sites.

CFMEU members rally in the city. Picture: David Crosling

The obvious extrapolation of this capitulation is that project costs will rise.

This could mean fewer jobs get off the ground now that Victoria is mired in debt.

It also has the potential to open the door to worse behaviour or criminality if it is left unchecked.

The absence of an industry watchdog with teeth – Anthony Albanese disbanded the Australian Building and Construction Commission – has emboldened Setka and delegates who brazenly say that some industrial laws are made to be broken.

Perhaps all this would be ignored by politicians if the CFMEU continued on its merry way within the construction sector.

But as one industry figure said recently, the actions of the union are increasingly mimicking the script of the fantasy TV show Game of Thrones.

Setka and his hardened warriors are invading other industries and their workforces to expand their membership and spoils.

Water infrastructure, local government, and even warehouse workers are in their sights.

One industry figure says the actions of the union are increasingly mimicking Game of Thrones. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

While it’s always difficult to assess what motivates Setka forces, the most obvious is to boost their power as a union, both financially and on the ground.

Setka has said he wants to boost member numbers to as high as 40,000, a figure that may be a pipedream but shows the scale of his expansion mission.

Recently, there has also been a suggestion that whatever the increase in members is, it could translate to a greater influence on the floor of ALP conferences.

This provides a greater say on policy, but also has the potential to increase influence on Labor’s Public Office Selection Committee used to preselect MPs for parliament.

While ALP number crunchers doubt this would amount to much on its own, they say if the union is successful in poaching members from the Australian Services Union – which represents council workers and is an important factional player in the Socialist Left – it could distort other affiliates’ influence.

Setka has told members he will retire from the CFMEU leadership later this year. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Given the ASU has solid representation in state and federal parliament, a brewing demarcation between it and the CFMEU is doing more than just raising a few eyebrows.

Most Labor figures think this new brawl is a sideshow for the CFMEU, or a two-fingered salute to former ASU secretary Lisa Darmanin after she called for Setka’s resignation over a harassment conviction.

Any change to the CFMEU’s influence over the ALP would be a bonus.

What it does do, however, is risk a pinch point for a political response.

Within the ALP there are numbers, and then there are numbers.

The billions of dollars of taxpayer money being thrown against the wall on major projects to satisfy union demands might not shift the dial.

But a threat to a powerbroker or their group’s internal numbers could be compelling.

It is worth noting that Setka has told members he will retire from the CFMEU leadership later this year.

Most insiders don’t expect this to drastically change the direction of the infamously militant union.

Nor would it diminish the size of the considerable army he has started to amass.

Matt Johnston is Herald Sun major projects editor