John Setka in bid to tighten grip on power

John Setka accused of fresh bid to undermine influential national secretary Michael O’Connor.

CFMEU boss John Setka is accused of undermining national secretary Michael O’Connor. Picture: AAP

Fresh brawling has erupted inside the CFMEU as the construction division moved to tighten its grip over the union and controversial Victorian leader John Setka was accused of a new powerplay to undermine influential national secretary Michael O’Connor.

The union’s manufacturing division has also accused Mr Setka’s construction branch of “trampling” over the conditions of floor layers by striking enterprise agreements that allegedly leave workers worse off by $21,000 a year.

Documents obtained by The Australian show the construction and general division intends to move on Thursday to slash the number of officials on the union’s powerful national executive to 16, with the majority to be officials from the construction branch.

The meeting, which will be conducted via Zoom due to the coronavirus, will also consider the “future of the union”, sparking speculation by Mr Setka’s opponents that further attacks will be launched by his backers on Mr O’Connor.

CFMEU national necretary Michael O'Connor. Picture: David Geraghty

Under the “restructure” proposal, outlined in a letter by the construction division’s national secretary, Dave Noonan, the construction branch would have an outright majority with 10 members, while the maritime, mining and energy and manufacturing ­divisions would be confined to two members each.

Mr Noonan’s letter proposes the abolition of the union’s “8-pack”, a body made up of two officials from each of the union’s four divisions, while the large membership of the existing national executive would sit on a national council that would meet annually.

Mr Noonan, who refused to comment on Sunday, said in the letter the restructure would reflect the union’s divisional structure “based on a streamlined formula which approximates proportional representation”.

But opponents of Mr Setka said the proposal would allow the construction division to increase its control over the national executive by making it easier to push through agenda items while reducing debate and opposition at meetings.

“This is another powerplay by Setka against O’Connor,” one source said.

The national executive will consider a complaint by manufacturing division president Denise Campbell-Burns about enterprise agreements struck by Mr Setka’s division.

Mr O’Connor took legal action against Mr Setka for allegedly poaching members from the manufacturing division but lost, leaving the way open for his rival to keep recruiting.

In a letter, obtained by The Australian, Ms Campbell-Burns urges Mr O’Connor and CFMEU national president Tony Maher to have the national executive address concerns about the floor layer agreements struck by the Victorian construction branch.

In a separate letter to Mr Setka and four state construction officials, Ms Campbell-Burns says the remuneration contained in the agreements “is much less than that contained in the manufacturing division’s proposed agreement for the floor industry” — an all up rate of $102,109 a year as ­opposed to $123,769, a difference of more than $20,000, than that proposed by her division.

“It may be that this is why the Floorcovering Association of Victoria was so keen to opt for your agreement rather than the one proposed by our division,” Ms Campbell-Burns wrote.