CFMEU calls on Gladys Berejiklian not to extend construction ban

Gladys Berejiklian has been urged not to extend the “atrocious” two-week shut down of Greater Sydney’s construction industry.

Australia’s main construction union has urged Gladys Berejiklian not to extend her two-week shutdown of Greater Sydney’s construction industry, calling the NSW Premier’s controversial decision “atrocious”.

On Saturday, in a bid to further curb Sydney’s current outbreak, Ms Berejiklian announced that until at least July 30, construction sites would be closed, and any non-urgent maintenance, including cleaning services, and repair work on residential premises would be halted — the first Premier to take that step since the pandemic began.

“We know this is a big decision. We know the impact this will have on businesses small and large,” the Premier told reporters.

“But we really need to reduce mobility and we need to reduce the chances of anybody having the virus in their workplace, spreading it to work colleagues and then bringing it home.

“We don’t underestimate the impact this has on our businesses, we appreciate that. But what is really important for us is to give business every chance to bounce back. This is our chance to quash this virus and make sure that families and businesses can bounce back as quickly as possible.”

RELATED: Fordham says Sydney lockdown ‘can’t go on’

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Bianca De Marchi/NCA NewsWire

The construction shutdown is the first in the pandemic. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA NewsWire

Speaking to 2GB’s Ben Fordham this morning, Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) NSW Secretary Darren Greenfield said there had been outrage throughout the industry, which felt blindsided by the Premier’s move.

“We were bloody angry on Saturday, so were our members, so was the industry,” Mr Greenfield said.

“We should’ve been spoken to — late Friday, we were still told the industry could keep going … to come out and flip a switch was atrocious.

“Moving forward, we need to start telling this government, everyone in the industry does, and everyone in NSW for the sake of the economy as well, that we need to get back up and running. If the numbers are dropping, she needs to make the call early.”

Those in the industry, Mr Greenfield said, are willing to do whatever it takes to get back to work — from contact tracing to fewer people on sites and mask-wearing.

He warned that if the ban “goes past Friday week, the date we have set now, businesses will start to collapse”.

“Subcontractors cannot sustain a third or fourth week of this,” he said. “Our industry will be a basket case.”

Small builders will be hit the hardest, developers warn. Picture: David Swift

Major developers warned last night that the construction lockdown will hit small builders the hardest, and could cost the economy an additional $2.5 billion.

“It’s terrible, because if you go along the freeways the only traffic is trucks and tradies,” Meriton Apartments founder Harry Triguboff told The Australian.

“If you stop that you kill everything. By us building you keep everything going, including suppliers.

“It definitely cannot be done. It is good the builders are so angry. The government has started to listen and will soften its stance. We are not getting anywhere. We are going backwards. We should be trying to stop the virus. All we are doing is counting how many people have it.”

My brother who works in construction took this video. Construction trucks honking & lined up in protest on City West Link. Similar scenes on the Anzac and Harbour Bridges. This is the first time construction in NSW has been shut down due to the pandemic. Clearly not happy Gladys pic.twitter.com/QV952sv7u5

— Antoinette Lattouf (@antoinette_news) July 17, 2021

Development lobby group Urban Taskforce said the decision was harming the entire economy.

“The close down of construction in NSW is an overreach that will cost the economy billions of dollars, resulting in a trail of litigation and claims that will take years to resolve,” chief executive Tom Forrest said.

“This hasty decision wreaks of a government in panic following their indecision and lax attitude to the eastern suburbs Delta strain outbreak.”