CFMEU targets Danish wind turbine giant Vestas

The CFMEU is demanding the federal government use its purchasing power to exert pressure on wind turbine giant Vestas.

CFMEU national secretary Christy Cain. Picture: Colin Murty

The CFMEU is demanding the federal government use its purchasing power to exert pressure on wind turbine giant Vestas, accusing Labor of “turning a blind eye to the shonky anti-worker practices of multinationals” in its quest to promote renewables.

The union’s national secretary, Christy Cain, said if the Danish wind turbine maker wanted to ­operate in Australia, it should be “compelled to support Australian conditions and … rates of pay”.

Mr Cain said the company ­believed it did not need to deal with the union, despite being involved in contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars: “We’ve offered to sit down with Vestas but they’ve refused. Well now, we’ll be forced to change tack. One thing is for certain, Vestas won’t be able to arrogantly thumb their noses at Australian workers for much longer.”

Mr Cain said the government should bring the parties together and agree on standards of practice.

“In their eagerness to push through renewables the government has turned a blind eye to the shonky anti-worker practices of multinationals like Vestas,” he said. “The government has enormous purchasing power in this sector and they should be using it to change the crook culture that‘s been allowed to fester.

“We need to be forcing big employers like Vestas to train Australian apprentices. The government should also be moving aggressively to ensure we have the ­capacity to build the turbine parts we need locally, instead of allowing Vestas to rely on dodgy parts imported from China.”

In a statement on Monday, the company said Vestas employees engaged in wind farm projects under construction were specifically professional, technical, engineering and management personnel.

“All other workers who may fall under the coverage of the CFMEU membership rules are employed by subcontractors,’’ a Vestas spokesman said.

“Vestas acknowledges that sound industrial relations are ­essential for any organisation, and understands the need for their subcontractors to have a good ­industrial relations processes. ­Vestas shared an informal meeting with the CFMEU in February 2023, along with several other interactions on site, as recently as last week. Vestas will continue to share an open and collaborative conversation with the CFMEU as well as other unions.”

In a union bulletin posted on Facebook, Mr Cain says the union’s “renewables” campaign is critical for the maritime and construction industries.

“We are now seeing multinational companies wanting to once again come into Australia and rape and pillage whatever they can get hold of, without talking to the main unions in this field of just transition,” he says.

CFMEU national organiser James Simpson says Australia’s energy supply is “at a critical stage swapping from one source to the other and the opportunities for our great union are monumental”.

“The biggest space for our membership to grow and make the most out of this opportunity is with the onshore/offshore wind, but when you have ­companies like Vestas trying to destroy the wages and conditions that have been hard fought and won across the country, well then, we are going to have a blue!” Mr Simpson says.

He says Vestas is the world’s biggest wind turbine manu­facturer, with yearly revenue of $23bn.