‘Back me or sack me’: CFMEU boss Zach Smith lashes critics

CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith has clashed with senior union officials over a proposed restructure, calling on delegates to ‘back me or sack me’.

CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith says being ‘called a dog is my line in the sand’. Picture: Aaron Francis/NewsWire

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CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith has clashed with current and former senior union officials over a proposed restructure his critics claim will drain millions of dollars from the union’s state branches and triple the national office’s expenditure.

Mr Smith’s planned restructure of the union’s national office has been attacked by Western Australian branch secretary Mick Buchan, acting ACT secretary Michael Hiscox and former Queensland secretary Michael Ravbar as undemocratic and reducing the voice of rank-and-file members.

In an address to Victorian union delegates on Thursday, Mr Smith said he was drawing a line in the sand” after being called a ­“puppet” of union administrator Mark Irving.

“But hardest to stomach is that I have been called a dog and a traitor to my union,” he said.

Calling on delegates to “back me or sack me”, Mr Smith said most of the criticism was being “driven by people like Michael Ravbar – who don’t have a plan B if the High Court (challenge) falls over, except to take me down”.

Declaring “f. k you” to his critics, Mr Smith said: “I say to all of those people trying to take me down: What the f. k is your plan? What’s next when you get me? I want to keep doing this job. I want to be here when the administrator hands the union back to members. I want to fight for the union in every way I can. But I have decided that being called a dog is my line in the sand. I can’t let that go.”

Former CFMEU Queensland secretary Michael Ravbar. Picture: Steve Pohlner

In an earlier video message to members, Mr Smith said the “fact that I am being attacked by Michael Ravbar on democracy is a joke”.

“This bloke never ever accepted collectively or solidarity across the union,” he said. “It was his way or no way. He broke collective decision-making repeatedly. I won’t be lectured about the voice of the members from Michael Ravbar. And I won’t be bullied by Michael Ravbar.”

Mr Smith was responding to a video statement by Mr Ravbar in which he said the restructure was about removing opposition, silencing dissent and giving unchecked power to Mr Smith and Mr Irving.

Mr Ravbar said Mr Smith had been “hand-picked” by Mr Irving, and that their plan would nationalise total control of the CFMEU into the “hands of a few at the top”.

“This plan is centralisation by stealth, trying to create a nationalised union – and it’s being forced on you without consultation, without consent and without democracy,” he said.

In a statement, Mr Buchan and Mr Hiscox said that as the remaining members of the construction division executive, “we are deeply concerned by the proposed restructure”, as it aimed to expand national office control and take autonomy from state ­branches.

“This will necessarily require branches to pay higher capitation fees to (the) national office, reducing the resources that are at our disposal to deliver for members in our own states and territories,” they said.

Capitation fees are paid by branches to the national office to cover the cost of running the union’s central operations. Critics of Mr Smith told members his plan would cause a “multimillion-dollar increase to capitations – which come from your union dues – and a tripling of the expenses of the national office.”

Mr Buchan and Mr Hiscox said an almost identical restructure ­occurred in the CFMEU’s former forestry division “with disastrous consequences for members”.

“The proposed restructure would only deprive rank-and-file members of having a voice in the way that their union is run. It is contrary to what the union stands for: fairness, equality and democracy.

“This will not make our union more democratic. It will do the opposite.”

Mr Smith said the restructure would not dilute the power of branches or reduce the voice of members. “It strengthens the union’s communications and campaign function, as well as investing in education and training for our own staff,” he said.

“This isn’t about Zach, ”Mr Ravbar said on Sunday. “This is about members knowing what is going on, and forming their decisions based on an inconvenient truth that one or two people wish to hide.”