Public Transport Union boss Luba Grigorovitch backs convicted CFMEU leader John Setka in ‘journey for change’

THE ACTU wants CFMEU boss John Setka to resign from the union over insulting messages he sent to his wife, but he’s got strong support from another key union boss.

A key female union leader has strongly backed troubled CFMEU boss John Setka in his “journey for change”.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Luba Grigorovitch said her union factional ally deserved another chance after being convicted of harassing his wife Emma Walters with a series of insulting text messages.

“I stood by John during the Trade Union Royal Commission and I saw first-hand the impact on both him and his family. It was awful,” she said in a social media post.

“John & Emma have given us all an insight into how this attack led to a breakdown and impacted on their relationship.”

RTBU state secretary Luba Grigorovitch and CFMEU state secretary John Setka at an ALP event in 2016

Ms Grigorovitch and the Setkas are friends, and have been photographed together in social settings.

Ms Walters exclusively told the Herald Sun how she feared her husband as their marriage broke down.

“I was in a situation where, despite loving someone very deeply, I knew that it was ­unhealthy for me and unhealthy for the children,” she said.

But Ms Walters said she was ­“unwell” at the time and that her fear was now gone.

Setka received a one-year good behaviour bond on Wednesday after pleading guilty to using a carriage service to harass his wife and breaching a court order.

Ms Grigorovitch, whose union is aligned with the CFMEU in the Industrial Left grouping, said Setka had always supported the RTBU.

“Solidarity is not something we display only when the going is good,” she said.

“I support John on his journey for change. I support Emma having a voice in these matters that directly affect her family. I support the CFMEU members autonomy in selecting their own leader.”

Ms Grigorovitch, a former Hobsons Bay councillor, has ambitions to be a Labor Party MP.

Grigorovitch said Setka deserves a second chance.

The RTBU Victorian branch executive also passed a motion reinforcing its “commitment to eradicating domestic violence in our society and condemn it in all its forms”.

“This includes giving victim survivors rights and a voice over their own personal circumstances and perpetrators opportunities to change behaviour,” it said.

“The RTBU … maintains that John Setka’s ongoing leadership of the CFMEU remains a matter for its members.”

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has maintained her call for Setka to resign from the union.

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