Unionists or ‘man-baby Nazis’: Who’s behind the protests?

The CFMEU boss says the crowd causing chaos in the city are “professional protesters” and “drunken morons” but union insiders say the reality is more complicated.

Construction workers angered by vaccine mandates have been whipped into a frenzied mob by far-right agitators and anti-lockdown hardliners.

Union insiders described the protesters, whose number grew into the thousands on Tuesday, as a “crossover” between tradies forced off job sites and more niche political actors who urged followers to find hi-vis clothes.

Others pointed to thousands of now-closed suburban work sites as a source of the increased numbers.

While construction workers were believed to have made up the majority of the crowd, labour movement figures publicly blamed neo-Nazis and extremists for the out-of-control action.

Protesters have rallied at the front of the CFMEU head office. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

CFMEU state secretary John Setka on Tuesday said he would not pander to the “drunken morons” and “professional protesters” and claimed a small portion of the crowd were paid members.

There are more than 300,000 construction workers across Victoria and about 30,000 CFMEU members in the sector.

“We’re not going to let a group of morons like that dictate and intimidate the union,” Mr Setka told 3AW.

“The vast majority of protesters there were not construction workers, they’re just professional protesters. They just want to pick a fight all the time.”

John Setka says the vast majority of protesters are not construction workers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Former opposition leader Bill Shorten also accused right-extremists of weaponising the lockdown and blamed a network of “hard-right man-baby Nazis”.

But another construction union source said the division between the two was not so simple.

Research by the Melbourne Institute show vaccine hesitancy is higher in construction than any other industry, while recent audits by the state government have found less than half of the sites inspected were meeting Covid safety guidelines.

“Anyone who has worked on a major construction site will know there are groups who do not engage with typical media and who listen to conspiracy truthers,” he said.

Former opposition leader Bill Shorten labelled the protesters “hard-right man-baby Nazis”

“They have been repeating crazy rumours about Bill Gates since this all began so there is a crossover point where they are digesting the same information (as anti-lockdown protesters).

“Whether or not they are union members right now is academic because for certain big sites you know you should be signed up if you want to work.”

Social media messages circulating on Monday showed that lockdown activists and other fringe groups saw the protests as an opportunity to advance their message.

The Herald Sun has also been told a small number of members of the United Patriots Front were key agitators on Tuesday.

“They’re right-wing lunatics. They’re the ones firing it up,” one source said.

Social media messages indicate there was a concerted effort to have people turn up in work gear.

“Everyone turn up to the freedom rallies in hi-vis and workboots. (kneepads, goggles, respirators and hard-hats optional but useful),” one post said.

Another message said: “Everyone will be in high vis tomorrow … you won’t be able to tell a tradie from a non-tradie.”

Other social media posts have previously said “wear work gear” and “blend in”.