Union fight looms after consortium pushes through West Gate Tunnel enterprise agreement

Victoria’s powerful construction unions are going to war on a key Andrews Government roads project, fighting a deal that would see many of the workers earn more than $180,000 a year.

Victoria’s powerful construction unions are going to war on a key Andrews Government roads project, fighting a deal that would see many of the workers earn more than $180,000 a year.

Days into its new term, Labor faces an industrial relations headache after its building-union backers failed to reach a deal with the consortium building the $6.7 billion West Gate Tunnel.

After more than six months of negotiation, the contractors have used a legal loophole to force it through without the five unions signing off on it.

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The contractors have submitted it to the Fair Work Commission for arbitration.

The legal stoush will be played out next year, with all five unions vowing a fight.

One union said the consortium was “dudding workers” because it and the state government had under-budgeted the project.

The consortium’s deal would see most tunnel workers earn almost $200,000 a year with overtime, penalties and a site allowance of $7.50 an hour when they work an industry standard 56-hour week.

Piling rigs digging and building during early works on the West Gate Tunnel. Picture: Wayne Tay

But the Australian Workers’ Union has told its members the deal would make them more than $800 a week worse off and wants a site allowance of $9.10 and a bump of nearly $3 an hour in most workers’ standard rate.

The Chinese-owned John Holland and the Spanish-controlled CPB Contractors used a little-known clause in the Fair Work Act, allowing them to lodge a draft agreement for arbitration if they have negotiated with unions for six months.

It is one of the first times the clause has been used.

AWU state secretary Ben Davis said the contractors sought to pay the workforce as little as possible.

“For this to happen on one of Victoria’s biggest infrastructure projects is an embarrassment,” he said.

“They are alienating the union and their workforce.”

CFMMEU secretary John Setka said John Holland workers wouldn’t be “dudded on mega projects” because John Holland and the state government couldn’t add up.

“If this project starts with a dispute it’s on John Holland, not us,” he said.

CFMMEU secretary John Setka. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

The $11 billion Melbourne Metro Tunnel project agreement, which has sailed through to Fair Work with unions’ tick of approval, has similar pay rates and the same $7.50 site allowance.

But also included is a $45 daily travel allowance, more generous redundancy pay and greater roster flexibility.

Master Builders Victoria chief executive Radley de Silva said taxpayers would eventually foot the bill for rising costs.

“The risk of continued protracted delays can be that tenderers agree to unreasonable wage and site demands in order to get on with the job,” he said.

“Taxpayers wear the costs of the pressure being placed upon builders and subcontractors to agree to unnecessarily high wages and site allowances.”

“These protracted EBA negotiations create uncertainty for tenderers on projects and cause delays and cost blow outs — with flow on effects to all the subcontractors on projects.”

A government spokesman said work was underway using subcontractors’ existing enterprise agreements.

“We urge all parties to continue to negotiate in good faith,” the spokesman said.

A spokesman for the John Holland-CPB Joint Venture said it had no comment.

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