John Setka’s CFMEU controversies under 12 year reign laid bare

In his 12 years as CFMEU boss, John Setka wasn’t afraid to break the rules and make enemies, taking aim at the AFL, Grocon and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Dare to struggle, dare to win; if you don’t fight, you lose.

This was the catchcry of John Setka’s mentor and trade unionist hero, John Cummins, but could equally describe his own career.

For the past 12 years as secretary of the CFMEU in Victoria, Setka has fought non-stop.

It was with this in mind that the decision to step down on Friday, albeit just a few months ahead of his planned retirement, surprised everyone.

The full extent of allegations made against him and his union are yet to be aired, but they were clearly serious enough for the man who never stopped fighting to hang up his gloves.

Last decade, when Setka and his former right-hand man, Shaun Reardon, were hit with blackmail charges related to alleged concrete blockades, they dug in and fought.

Three years after they were arrested in front of family members, the blackmail charges were dropped.

Over the years, Setka has continued to brawl with authority with a smirk on his face.

During a podcast interview with former AFL champion Sam Newman, he reminded people of the lengths he would go to on building sites when cops on the beat tried to curtail his union.

“If you have got bad laws, it’s your obligation to sort of break them,” he said.

Recently, he went after his enemies directly, including those who were once the cop on the beat.

CFMEU state secretary John Setka during a union rally in the Melbourne CBD. Picture: Aaron Francis.

He demanded the AFL sack its umpire boss, former building industry watchdog Stephen McBurney, warning the league would face delays on its projects across the country if it didn’t listen to his outrageous demands.
This was retribution for the fact that McBurney had launched legal action responsible for millions of dollars in CFMEU fines during his career at the recently-disbanded Australian Building and Construction Commission.

“We have an obligation to pursue anti-union, anti-worker f****ers like him and we will until the end of the earth,” he said.

The combative leader cut his teeth at the infamous Builders’ Labourers Federation, which was deregistered by Labor leaders Bob Hawke and John Cain.

Of Croatian heritage, Setka’s late father Bob survived the West Gate Bridge collapse, which would become a major driver in his career.

When good mate and head of the ETU, Troy Gray, was asked to comment on his resignation he said that if his children were on an unsafe building site the first person he would call would be Setka.

When Setka was elected state secretary of the CFMEU in 2012, the union was in the midst of a war with construction giant Grocon that shut down central Melbourne.

The blockade of sites including the Myer Emporium project cost the union millions, but showed its willingness to flex industrial muscle that was a hallmark of Setka.

In recent years the union turned attention to Big Build sites that were funded by taxpayers, and it used threats and intimidation to dispatch companies linked to a rival union, the Australian Workers Union.

Critics – including those in the labour movement who dare speak up – said he had made the union “all about him”.

Critics say Setka made the union “all about him”. Picture: Aaron Francis

He ordered the recruitment of local government workers to the union to get back at a rival union, the Australian Services Union, whose former head called for him to quit when it was revealed he was charged with harassing his wife.

That call, repeated by other women across the trade union movement, was compounded by leaks that he had disparaged the work of family violence victim Rosie Batty – which Setka continues to deny.

The crisis that erupted from that led Anthony Albanese to move to expel him from the ALP; although the Albanese Government would later disband the ABCC at the urging of the CFMEU.

Setka had once called former prime minister Kevin Rudd a “f***ing dog” at a national Labor conference due to the fact he never ditched the industry watchdog.

Insiders say that one of the key defining moments of Setka’s latter career was when he was attacked outside the union’s offices during Covid-19 protests.

Angry anti-vaxxers threw objects at the CFMEU boss and his colleagues, shocking the popular union leader at a time he was fighting to keep the industry open during lockdowns.

That incident, insiders say, genuinely shook Setka.

He led a purge of tradies who were involved from construction sites, and recruited extra muscle for security and to lay down the law on projects.

“We’ve got video footage, we’ve identified a lot of people and there will be consequences out of this,” he said at the time.

The union leader’s penchant for revenge was not a surprise in union circles.

Several years ago, Setka managed to include his pet phrase on CFMEU merchandise the union sold.

Black hoodies and T-shirts flew off the online shelves with the words: “God Forgives, the CFMEU doesn’t”.