John Setka threatens to pull Labor donations, challenge ALP expulsion

The union boss has threatened to legally challenge his expulsion from the Labor Party and halt all donations to the Opposition.

CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka outside the ACTU in Melbourne on Sunday. Picture: David Geraghty

Embattled union boss John Setka has threatened to legally challenge his expulsion from the Labor Party and halt all donations to the Opposition from his rogue branch of the construction union.

Mr Setka claims today he is being forced out of Labor for making similar funding threats after the party’s poor federal election result. The Victorian branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining, Maritime and Energy Union has donated nearly $1 million since Mr Setka took charge in 2012.

“What I said was no more money to the ALP. We are freezing everything. Not one more cent,” he told The New Daily website today.

“The $12 million the ACTU spent, they might as well have gone down the racetrack and gone to the Crown casino and got a better return. It’s pretty bad.

“They f..ked it all. Their policies. Everyone tiptoed around and did everything we had to do. Millions and millions of dollars. And we are in the gun now.”

Mr Setka is staring down growing union demands for him to quit, with 12 national unions backing the ACTU call for the Victorian construction union boss to resign.

But allies of Mr Setka said yesterd­ay he retained the support of a number of Victorian left-wing blue-collar union leaders, as well as sections of the CFMEU, to stay on until harassment charges against him were heard in court on June 26.

Anthony Albanese remains determined to have Mr Setka expelled by the ALP nation­al executive on July 5, and more unions have backed the demand­ by ACTU secretary Sally McManus for Mr Setka to quit as Victorian CFMEU secretary.

Mr Setka continues to deny claims he made disparaging comments about anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty — a claim backed up by Ms McManus — and said today he could challenge his planned expulsion.

“Look, my view is I will challenge it. It’s up to the members because it would be a costly exercise,” Mr Setka told The New Daily.

“I am a little bit old school, I actually think you should have actually done something before you get cooked on a spit about it.

“The bottom line is I am for fair play. They’ve accused me of bagging Rosie Batty. Now, it’s clear that wasn’t said. Well, good luck to them. It’s going to be a long, drawn-out thing.”

Unions demand Setka quit

Leaders of the Australian Workers Union, Community and Public Sector Union and the Independent Education Union have urged Mr Setka to quit, joining nine unions publicly backing the ACTU position.

The CPSU executive committee, including its national secret­ary Nadine Flood, said in a statement that “violence and abuse against women in any form is unacceptable and these attit­udes have no place in our union movement”.

“Unions reflect our community and being a union is no guarantee that sexism, family violence, harassment, discrimination or exclusio­n will not be experienced or perpetrated by those who share our values,’’ the union said.

“If our actions as union leaders can damage our unions, our movement and therefore the interests of all workers, we must put the values we share first. We support ACTU secretary Sally McManus in calling for John Setka to stand down.’’

The Independent Education Union said Australian unions had been leaders against family violence and “that places obligations on leaders”. “The movement is bigger than one person and we must be prepared to call out behaviou­rs opposed to the values we stand for,’’ the union said.

AWU national secretary Daniel­ Walton said Mr Setka had breached what was expected of a union leader. “When you find yourself charged with a substantial number­ of domestic violence matters­, when there are a number of allegations in terms of comments, some of which are fiercely fought against, those expectations have clearly been breached and the most appropriate thing to do as a trade union leader is step down and resign,” Mr Walton told Sky News.

“There are expectations on all of us to hold us to a higher stand­ard and that standard has clearly been breached.

‘‘The simple fact we have to spend as much time as we are now and throughout the entire week speaking about John Setka means the trade union movement is having its oxygen sucked out of it to be able to talk about important things that matter for working people.”

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation federal secret­ary Annie Butler said the union “has, and always will have, a zero tolerance toward any form of violence”.

“The ANMF doesn’t take it upon itself to tell another union how to run its business but, in this instance, the ANMF supports the ACTU’s position while due process is sorted through,’’ she said.

The National Union of Workers said Mr Setka had indicated he intended to plead guilty to harassment charges.

“The consequence for him, as a leader of the CFMEU, is to do what is in the best interests of the CFMEU and the union movement. That means he should offer his resignation,’’ the NUW said.

Finance Sector Union national secretary Julia Angrisano said Mr Setka must resign should allegations against him prove correct.

The ACTU position is also backed by the Australian Education Union, the Transport Workers Union, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the Australian Services Union, United Voice, and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association.