Miners bid to split from CFMEU fails

The mining and energy union’s bid to split from the CFMEU has suffered a major setback after Fair Work rejected its demerger.

Mining and energy division general president Tony Maher said the decision was a “disappointing setback”. Picture: AAP

The mining and energy union’s bid to split from the CFMEU has suffered a major setback after the Fair Work Commission rejected its demerger application.

A commission full bench rejected the mining union’s bid to hold a ballot of members to vote on breaking away from the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union, after the union decided not to rely on changes to union amalgamation laws by the Morrison government.

Union sources said the decision left the mining division with two options: appeal to the Federal Court or make a new application under the government’s changes that would require it to document the construction division’s record of not complying with workplace or safety laws.

If an application is made under the government’s recent changes, the mining division is likely to have to rely on evidence that would be presented by the Registered Organisations Commission about the construction division’s history of law-breaking.

Rather than effectively endorse the Coalition’s attacks on the CFMEU by citing its law-breaking, the mining division sought to rely on pre-existing laws that allowed unions to split if they had amalgamated between two and five years before a demerger application.

The mining union said it became part of the merged union in 2018 when the maritime and textile unions amalgamated with the CFMEU, but the commission found the mining union’s merger with the CFMEU occurred in 1995.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said the application was not made under the new provision introduced by the government this year that allowed for appli­cations to be made more than five years after an amalgamation.

“In no way does this decision impact on the application of this provision. It is for the mining and energy division to decide how to make its application,” she said.

Mining and energy division general president Tony Maher said the decision was a “dis­appointing setback” but “our determination to give members a say over their future in the CFMEU is not diminished”.

“Since our national convention in March unanimously endorsed applying for a demerger ballot, members around the country have indicated their strong support for moving forward as an independent mining and energy union,” he said.

“We are committed to giving all members a vote on this issue. In the days and weeks ahead, we will consider today’s decision along with our next steps.”

He said the division would continue to operate autonomously and focus on the needs and interests of members in the mining and energy industries.

Dave Noonan, national secretary of the CFMEU’s construction division, said the union had said the mining division’s application was not valid and “that’s what the commission found”.

“We just hope that people accept the decision of the commission and work through the issues within the union, which is what we think should have happened in the first place,” he said.

Referencing secret talks held between Industry Minister Christian Porter and Mr Maher in 2020, Mr Noonan said if the mining ­division had concerns, “it should have had the discussion within the union, not with Christian ­Porter and the Liberal Party.”

The mining and energy division resolved in March to split from the union, declaring it had been overtaken by “macho posturing and chest-beating” and had never been less respected or more isolated within the union movement and the broader community.

Senator Cash said the case showed there were strong divisions within the CFMEU.

“It’s not surprising that parts of the CFMEU want to disassociate themselves from the persistent lawlessness promoted by many ­individuals within that union,” she said.