Union boss lashes Dan over push to expel him

A scathing Peter Marshall has accused Daniel Andrews of being the mastermind behind a plot to boot the union boss from the Socialist Left faction.

United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall has accused Daniel Andrews of being the mastermind behind the push to expel him from the Socialist Left faction. Picture: Julian Smith

The boss of the powerful firefighters union has lashed Daniel Andrews, accusing him of being the mastermind behind a push to have him booted from Labor’s Socialist Left faction.

United Firefighter Union secretary Peter Marshall also remained defiant over his commitment to campaign hard against Labor, confirming that cabinet ministers Jaclyn Symes and Ingrid Stitt will be targeted along with marginal seats like Richmond.

Mr Marshall has been at war with the Andrews government over their decision to extend presumptive cancer legislation to mechanics and equipment maintenance workers attending fires.

He dubbed it a “very questionable factional deal” between the Andrews government and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and Australian Services Union, but laughed off the threat of expulsion from the Premier’s faction.

Mr Marshall said his main focus was to represent the issues and concerns of firefighters.

“This threat to expel me has come from Andrews,” Mr Marshall told the Saturday Herald Sun.

“At the end of the day, I’m elected to represent firefighters – if I don’t get invited to ALP or Andrews government Christmas parties, I don’t really care.

“I don’t need to be included in a club that’s forgotten the purpose of who they represent – which is their members, and not members of parliament.”

Mr Marshall is standing by his commitment to campaign hard against Labor, with Jaclyn Symes among those to be targeted. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

The accusation that Mr Andrews is behind the scheme to boot him from the Socialist Left comes despite the Premier’s insistence he does not get involved in factional matters.

The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission is expected to deliver its findings on Operation Richmond this year, which has included investigating the Andrews government’s dealings with the UFU and fire services.

“What we’re seeing here is an attempt to stand over a union by a few little mates of Daniel Andrews. It’s the Premier’s faction, being the Socialist Left, and we find it ironic that it’s his faction who are trying to lean on us to stop the campaign,” Mr Marshall said.

“I’ve had a good relationship on-and-off with the Premier. He’s done a lot of good things for working people in Victoria, but at the end of the day this sort of behaviour should not and will not be tolerated.

“I haven’t spoken to Daniel for a long time.”

Some left-aligned unions have banded together to expel Mr Marshall from the faction over the bruising campaign which could create serious headaches for the government.

Tony Mavromatis from the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union tabled the motion to the Socialist Left. It was seconded by Troy Gray from the Electrical Trades Union.

“Politics is transactional … It’s clearly a factional deal within the SL between Andrews and a couple other unions,” he added.

Mr Marshall says Ingrid Stitt should expect her seat to be targeted. Picture: Ian Currie

“This says a lot and it’s a damning indictment on the union’s concern about ALP politics first over the interest of their members.”

Mr Marshall’s persistent campaign will soon involve multilingual radio advertisements to reach voters that speak English as a second language.

Mr Marshall claimed Ms Symes, the Emergency Services Minister, and Ms Stitt, the Workplace Safety Minister, were “the architects of this trashing campaign” and should expect their upper house seats to be targeted with the anti-government sentiment.

“The campaign is not going to go away,” he said.

Mr Marshall first wrote to government Minister Melissa Horne in December last year pleading for the Bill to be withdrawn.

He said there had been “no consultation on the content of this ill-conceived and disrespectful Bill”, adding that contracting cancer-related illness was an “unavoidable risk that is unique to firefighters”.

A government spokeswoman said factional issues were a matter for the party.