Setka rift drives union officials out of CFMEU HQ

Mounting conflict with John Setka forces the CFMEU’s national secretary and others out of HQ.

CFMEU Secretary John Setka. Picture: David Crosling

CFMEU national secretary Michael O’Connor and officials of the union’s manufacturing division are moving out of its Victorian head office because of mounting conflict with John Setka.

Senior union officials said the last straw was Mr Setka’s alleged attempt to recruit top organisers from the manufacturing division to his construction division and poach their members.

“He’s become an out-of-­control wrecking ball,” one senior union official told The Australian.

“John Cummins would be ashamed of him, putting himself before union members.”

Mr Setka named the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union’s Victorian headquarters after Cummins, the former Builders Labourers Federation official Mr Setka regards as his mentor.

Michael O'Connor, CFMEU National Secretary. Picture: Kym Smith

Multiple sources said on Wednesday that Mr O’Connor and the manufacturing division officials intended to leave the building on Friday and would move to an office in Carlton. Sources said the move would cost members because the union would be paying for a new lease while parts of the Victorian headquarters would now be empty.

“It is a waste of members’ money but the reality is the ­relationship has become untenable,’’ one official said.

The Australian revealed last week that national officials were threatening Federal Court action against Mr Setka after he allegedly deman­ded two organisers defect­ to his camp and “pinch” members from the manufacturing division.

Sources said the two organisers told senior officials Mr Setka called them to his ­office and told them to defect from the manufact­uring division to construction “or you won’t have a career left”.

“When you come over, you are going to be pinching their (manufacturing) members,” Mr Setka alleged­ly said, according to the organisers’ accounts to national offic­ials. Sources said poaching members from a rival division was in breach of CFMEU rules.

Officials said yesterday the Federal Court action would not be launched until there was an ­attempt to recruit manufacturing division members, as this would give Mr Setka’s opponent­s a better chance of convincing the court that union rules had been broken.

Mr O’Connor is overseas and did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Setka initially promised to comment but changed his mind.

ACTU secretary Sally McMan­us said yesterday that 80 per cent of the union movement wanted Mr Setka to resign as Victorian construction division secretary of the CFMEU. She told ABC television that union leaders had asked Mr Setka to put the interests of the whole movement ahead of his own. “He’s decided not to take our advice,’’ McMan­us said.

She said the Morrison government was trying to make the ­Ensuring Integrity Bill — designed to make it easier to deregister unions and ban officials — all about Mr Setka when it impacted on the whole union movement.

Ms McManus confirmed the ACTU would likely drop its “change the rules” slogan ahead of the next election.

The Australian revealed last month the ACTU would dump the slogan in favour of a simple direct message, after a confidential review found the campaign pitch was not well understood beyond union officials and activists.

Following the amalgamation to create the CFMEU, the manufacturing divis­ion represents workers in the forestry, furnishing, building prod­ucts, pulp and paper, textile, clothing and footwear manufact­uring industries. The move by Mr O’Connor is the latest outbreak of public disunity in the CFMEU.

Mr Setka’s branch last week dumped law firm Gordon Legal and shifted the union’s legal work to Maurice Blackburn.

Relations between Mr Setka and Gordon Legal had been under strain for months and worsened in June when the union targeted the firm as part of the state branch’s probe into leaks against Mr Setka.