A ‘bit of blood for industrial relations peace’, warns CFMEU’s John Setka

CFMEU Victorian boss John Setka warns thousands of union members are ready to strike, saying ‘sometimes you have got to shed a bit of blood to just make peace’.

CFMEU Victorian leader John Setka: ‘Sometimes you have got to shed a bit of blood to just make peace.’ Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

CFMEU Victorian leader John Setka has warned thousands of union members are ready to strike in pursuit of significant pay rises and greater rights to walk off the job on safety grounds, declaring “sometimes you have got to shed a bit of blood to just make peace”.

Ahead of meetings with builders for a new enterprise agreement next week, Mr Setka said the union was demanding the reinstatement of employment conditions banned by the Coalition and “if it upsets people, f..king bad luck.”

Mr Setka laid out the union’s contingency plan, revealing he had told organisers to plan for ­industrial action and that members should put away money ­“because this could be a long blue”.

He released a survey of 14,048 members that showed 87 per cent were prepared to take industrial action to achieve an annual pay rise of 4 per cent “or more”, with 66 per cent willing to engage in legal strikes and one in four backing unprotected action. “They have got the wind in the sails at the moment,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“There’s a shortage of tradies around, there’s a shortage of good skilled workers at the moment so as far as they see it they hold the upper hand.

“At the same time, we don’t want a bloody minded civil war that’s going to just cost the industry but sometimes it’s unavoidable, sometimes you have got to shed a bit of blood to just make peace.”

The CFMEU’s construction division has traditionally been a national pacesetter for private sector wage increases, securing ­annual 5 per cent pay rises across ­commercial construction before the pandemic. Members in Victoria accepted a 3 per cent annual pay rise under the 2020 agreement in exchange for a doubling of redundancy payments.

Industry and union figures ­expect effective annual wage results of about 5 per cent in the new agreement. This could include a smaller headline wage rise but with increases in allowances, income protection, and redundancy payments.

The new pattern agreement has implications for major state government projects, given the union would seek to apply it to subcontractors engaged on the projects.

Mr Setka said the union would have a “better idea” about percentage wage claims when meeting builders next week.

“All our allowances are based on CPI, which is a bit of a bonanza at the moment,” he said.

“We know the industry is not in a good place at the moment with the cost of all the materials going up, and some of these people going broke. But in the end we want a ­decent pay rise, we want a decent EBA and we’re going to claw back all the stuff the Libs took off us, and we’re going to claw it back in this EBA and we’re going to whack it all back in and if it upsets people, f..king bad luck.”

As well as abolishing the Australian Building and Construction ­Commission, the Albanese ­government significantly amended the building code that had prevented employers from ­agreeing to insert different clauses into agreements if they wanted to ­remain eligible for federal building work.

Mr Setka said the union would push to ­reinstate previously banned content including clauses requiring ­employers to convert casuals to permanent employment, limit the use of labour hire and ratios to employ a minimum number of apprentices.

He said increased protections for union delegates and greater rights for workers to walk off the job on safety grounds without being prosecuted were key ­demands for the new agreement which he described as one of the most important the union would negotiate.

He said the union would also push for a levy on industry to fund 18 weeks’ fully paid maternity leave for female construction workers.

“The employers have been given the documents on all the prohibited content stuff. I don’t think they’re going to be too happy about that. But it’s called winding the clock back,” Mr Setka said.

“You have got ideological ­Liberal Party people that got rid of all this hard-won stuff and as far as we’re concerned, the shoe’s on the other foot now, we want it all back.

“We’re saying we want all the prohibited content that was banned in the building code under the Liberal government, we want the whole lot put back in. Every single thing. Protection for shop stewards, The ratio for ­apprentices. You couldn’t even stipulate you wanted Australian PPE (personal protective equipment).

“It’s going to be a bit controversial. They’re probably going to want to take us on but we’re going to say, ‘we don’t care, we want the whole lot, we want the hamburger with the lot’. Every single thing is going to be put back in there.”

The union survey, which included responses from 40 per cent of the state construction division’s 35,000 members, showed support for a raft of entitlements, including rostered days off after public holidays; higher travel ­allowances and boot allowances; parental leave for casual workers; Australian-made personal protective equipment and apprentice ratios.

Highlighting the 87 per cent support for taking industrial ­action, Mr Setka said there was “strong support for industrial ­action”.

“Everyone is getting a bit toey …. the members want an EBA and if there’s any resistance to it I think it’s going to be hard to hold the members back to be quite honest,” he said

“Some of the youngies want industrial action because they have never been part of anything.They want to have a blue, They watch videos. They look on YouTube. They see all the old blues and say, ‘when are we going to have a blue?’ ’’

Mr Setka said he expected there would be behind-the-scenes pressure on the builders not to cave in.

“Look, we’re ready for it, we have got a contingency plan,” he said.

“I always plan for the worst and hope for the best. I’m planning for industrial action, that’s what I have told the organisers. Plan, get ready. We have told members, put money away because this could be a long blue.”