Tradies prepare for war with Victorian Government over Covid vaccine mandate, with violent CFMEU protest a sign of things to come

An ugly war between the construction sector and the Victorian Government is unlikely to ease, with one big sticking point ensuring chaos.

Violent scenes in Melbourne of construction workers protesting outside the industry’s union headquarters for a second consecutive day shouldn’t come as a surprise to the authorities in Victoria.

The government has known for some time that a key measure in its road map to reopen the state and begin living with Covid-19 is a major sticking point for workers in a number of sectors.

Now, with the $22 billion construction industry shut down for two weeks – and an even longer closure being discussed – a tense new battle is brewing.

Neither side is likely to back down easily, with a workforce known for its at-times militant industrial action declaring war on Daniel Andrews and his government.

And it’s a brawl that could drag in other industries and their powerful trade union bodies right around Australia.

Ugly scenes erupted in Melbourne with hundreds of construction workers clashing with police. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Police deployed pepper spray and rubber bullets to control the crowd. Picture: Matrix

Anger and chaos erupt

Hundreds of tradies walked off the job in Melbourne on Monday and descended on the Elizabeth Street office of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).

Violence and chaos soon erupted, with bottles and other projectiles thrown and even a dog allegedly kicked, with police responding by firing rubber bullets into the crowd.

In response, the government has shut down the construction industry for a period of two weeks in Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Mitchell Shire and the Surf Coast, effective midnight on Monday.

“We‘ve been clear – if you don’t follow the rules, we won’t hesitate to take action,” Victorian Treasurer and Industrial Relations Minister Tim Pallas said last night.

“We have seen widespread noncompliance across the industry and that‘s why we’re taking necessary steps to protect every single Victorian.”

A large number of protesters gathered again in the CBD on Tuesday, met by an enormous police force, including riot and tactical response officers.

Anger has been brewing for some time over Covid-19 safety measures imposed on the sector, which is already subject to a 25 per cent cap on its work force, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was an abruptly announced vaccine mandate.

Hundreds of angry men converged on the CFMEU headquarters and things quickly turned ugly. Picture: Getty Images

In order to work on site, all tradies in Victoria must have received at least their first jab by September 23, the state’s Covid reopening road map declared.

But the mandate was an “unrealistic and blunt approach” that undermines the vaccine rollout, given at extremely short notice, and which did little else but inflame tensions, the Victorian Building Industry Group of Unions (BIGU) said in a statement.

“The (BIGU) maintains the view that the construction industry would have voluntarily reached high levels of vaccination without a heavy-handed approach,” the statement read.

“This heavy-handed mandate by the chief health officer, which was implemented with no notice, has only served to drive many people towards the (anti-vaxxer) movement.”

The union’s Victorian state secretary John Setka said there had been little consultation with the government over Covid measures affecting the industry.

“I have never spoken to Daniel Andrews to be honest,” Mr Setka told the Today program on Tuesday. “I have never met him and never spoken to him. I‘ve had no discussions with Daniel Andrews ever.”

A member of the Victoria Police Critical Incident Response Team outside the CFMEU office on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Tradies unlikely alone in views

Those watching the chaos outside the CFMEU office on Monday play out on the news and across social media were horrified, but experts say the angry boilover is unsurprising.

University of Melbourne law professor Joo-Cheong Tham said the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) fundamentally opposes vaccine mandates.

Some individual unions are in favour of requiring jabs among their workforces – teachers for example – but Prof Tham said the broader union movement has been “remarkably cohesive in opposing employer mandates”.

“Four interlocking principles underpin this position,” he wrote in an article for The Conversation.

“They are (that) high vaccination rates should be attained through encouragement and facilitation, not employer mandates; that where strictly necessary, mandates should be implemented through public health orders; that effective access to vaccines should be secured; and that the voices of workers should be respected.”

On that basis, this week’s mayhem shouldn’t come as a shock to authorities – especially when it comes to a union renowned for its staunch opposition to any infringement on workers’ rights.

Governments and public health authorities could face resistance from other industries subjected to mandatory vaccination.

Opposition to the notion of needing to be jabbed to go to work has already united two unlikely groups.

Last month, the ACTU made a rare joint statement with the Business Council of Australia (BCA) to call on the government and national cabinet to avoid mandating vaccines.

“We believe that for the overwhelming majority of Australians your work or workplace should not fundamentally alter the voluntary nature of vaccination,” it read.

The view is consistent with advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which does not support Covid vaccines being compulsory, Prof Tham said.

“Instead, the WHO argues for a focus on information campaigns and making vaccines accessible,” he said.

“Encouragement and facilitation do not guarantee workforces are 100 per cent vaccinated in the short term. But they may have more enduring public health benefits than forcing vaccination.

“Discussing and encouraging vaccination can be effective in overcoming vaccine hesitancy. For instance, meetings of the health sector union have resulted in many initially reticent members deciding to be vaccinated.”

This is the kind of rampant imbecility that confronts us .#Melbourneprotestpic.twitter.com/Uavs8pLyXX

— Madre Swift Justice - Cave Dweller (@JayStill4) September 21, 2021

Bizarre ‘fake tradies’ claim

Mr Setka has spent much of the past day furiously condemning the violence in a string of media appearances and has sought to distance his members from the protest.

On the Today show on Tuesday, Mr Setka insisted the crowd was filled with “fake tradies” who are actually “neo-Nazis” trying to hijack the movement to stir up trouble.

“There were anti-vaxxer activists there who are not union members or from our industry, they‘re the ones you see at all the protests,” Mr Setka said.

“Then they were consuming a whole heap of alcohol. Thanks to these morons, 300,000 Victorian (tradies) are sitting at home for at least the next couple of weeks, (but it) could drag out longer.”

While there were no doubt tradies among the mob, Mr Setka insisted most of those gathered were troublemakers who don’t work in the industry.

“There was a sprinkling of construction workers there of our members and the rest were just people, I wouldn‘t even know who they are,” he said.

Concerning scenes in #Melbourne at the #TradieProtest Flares being set off by protesters as they chat 'Freedom' and 'F*ck the jab.' Let's hope we don't see a repeat of yesterday's violence. (You can watch a live stream from the protesters POV here https://t.co/BPyHUe2bJH) pic.twitter.com/rfcWN4av9q

— Sophie McNeill (@Sophiemcneill) September 21, 2021

It’s a similar claim made by ACTU secretary Sally McManus, who told the ABC the protest was organised by forces outside the construction industry.

“We know from social media networks that the same people who were at the rallies on the weekend were asking people to come to these ones and to dress up in high vis,” Ms McManus said.

An ugly protest erupted in Melbourne on Saturday featuring largely anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown, with some in the crowd wearing Nazi symbols. The mob turned on police and several were hospitalised with multiple injuries including broken bones.

While it’s been argued the protest crowds outside the CFMEU are not representative of tradies’ views, a snap audit last week of Covid measure compliance across 200 construction sites in Melbourne found more than 70 per cent were ignoring restrictions.

CFMEU members brawl with each other outside the union’s headquarters in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Government’s approach ‘bungled’

In some situations, the ACTU and BCA acknowledge that vaccines should be mandated – that is in high-risk workplace settings. But they say those decisions should be made when absolutely necessary and through “nationally consistent” public health orders based on expert advice.

Those two words – nationally consistent – are important in the context of the past two days’ tradie chaos.

The union has previously described decisions by the Andrews Government surrounding Covid measures as being made without proper consultation and poorly communicated.

Last week’s forced closure of “tea rooms”, or designated break spaces on construction sites, out of fear of them being high-risk infection settings sparked fresh anger in the industry.

Tradies walked off the job in sporadic strikes, not organised by the CFMEU but nonetheless highly visible, setting up tables and chairs and taking their coffee breaks in the middle of streets.

Construction workers take their lunch break on a busy street, disrupting traffic, to protest the closing of their onsite tea rooms by health officials amid growing Covid-19 clusters linked to the construction industry. Picture: AFP

The industry has been subjected to closure orders through several separate extended lockdowns now and was operating at a 25 per cent worker capacity.

The sudden imposition of a vaccination deadline for tradies was the final straw.

“At stake is the fundamental principle of worker voice,” Professor Tham said of Covid measures.

“Worker voice is also central to workplace health and safety legislation, which requires consultation with workers and trade unions on employer vaccination policies.

“The underlying insight is that worker education and empowerment are key to workplace safety.”

The ACTU and a number of individual unions have called for workers to be consulted on vaccine mandates.

“We see in the unions’ opposition to employer-mandated vaccinations a framework of principles that places public health as its centre, together with respect for bodily autonomy, workers’ rights, fairness and democracy.

“This approach may prove to be more farsighted than employer mandates.”