CFMEU scrambles security to headquarters after threats against officials

The CFMEU administration has scrambled security teams to the union’s headquarters in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in response to warnings that violent bikies and crime figures ostracised from the union are turning on remaining organisers.

Fair Work-appointed administrator Mark Irving has contacted senior law enforcement officials about the threats, which in Melbourne involve an erratic and violent Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang member with ties to former union figures.

The CFMEU flag raised in Melbourne.Credit: Joe Armao

The bikie was suspected of running a racket with union backing that targeted the Victorian government’s level crossing removal project, but his ability to make money – including via Victorian taxpayers – has been constrained since the union was plunged into administration and his key supporters were removed from their union posts.

The project employed bikie-linked figures in jobs created by state government contractors, as well as a debt collection service targeting major contractors.

One ex-union leader in Victoria is so concerned about bikie blowback he has taken to carrying a pistol, according to two underworld sources.

The Albanese government appointed Irving as administrator of the CFMEU after the Building Bad series by this masthead, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes uncovered widespread allegations of corruption and intimidation within the union, plus evidence it had been infiltrated by bikies and organised criminals.

In NSW, union delegates and organisers who are viewed as backing the Irving-led reform of the union have been warned by industry figures loyal to ousted union bosses that they will be sacked if the High Court challenge to Irving’s administration is successful.

While The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have not uncovered explicit threats of violence in NSW, building industry unionists and workers in Queensland have faced threats of bikie violence that have not prompted major police intervention.

The High Court challenge has been backed by several breakaway unions and ousted CFMEU chiefs, including former NSW secretary Darren Greenfield.

Greenfield is facing serious bribery charges, which he denies. Union insiders say Greenfield has been attempting to run a shadow union to challenge Irving’s control of the CFMEU.

In the past week, ousted Queensland CFMEU secretary Michael Ravbar travelled to Victoria to rally union supporters to back the High Court challenge.

CFMEU administrator Mark Irving.Credit: Joe Armao

Ravbar’s intervention has concerned union officials within the CFMEU and the ACTU as they accuse him of undermining national, ACT and Victorian secretary Zach Smith as he attempts to stamp out corruption and organised crime from the union.

The bikie threats that led to Irving implementing urgent safety measures in Victoria began when a union organiser refused to buckle to demands from sacked union delegates with bikie links to procure union support for a tiling company, a confidential source told this masthead.

The increase in bikie aggression comes amid a major upheaval in the labour hire industry. Smith is seeking to curb the explosion of a building industry “gig economy” that emerged when select union officials used industrial muscle to promote certain labour hire firms.

Several of the most successful labour hire firms – which tend to offer temporary employment rather than more permanent positions traditionally favoured by unions – became major employers of bikies as they formed alliances with established gangland identities on Australia’s east coast.

This model of temporary employment was favoured by bikies because it facilitated nepotism and rorting on government-funded sites.

Irving’s lead investigator, corruption buster Geoffrey Watson, SC, is probing whether gangland figures struck deals with now-ousted union bosses to favour labour hire firms.

The bikie threats to CFMEU organisers come after federal police warned Irving in mid-October of an imminent death threat.

Irving was told by police that they had uncovered credible intelligence of a threat designed to undermine his efforts to clean up the union and industry.

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