‘Game changer’: CFMEU seals 25pc pay rise deal

The CFMEU has struck a ‘watershed’ 25 per cent pay deal in Western Australia with building giant Multiplex, including an immediate 10 per cent rise.

CFMEU construction division national secretary Zach Smith has hailed a new pay deal with Multiplex in Western Australia. Picture: Aaron Francis

The CFMEU has struck a “watershed” 25 per cent pay deal in Western Australia with building giant Multiplex, including an immediate 10 per cent rise, that the union has vowed to flow through the state’s construction industry.

The four-year agreement, which includes three annual 5 per cent rises and increased overtime, will lift the annual pay of a ­Multiplex level 3 construction worker on a 56-hour week from $151,936 to $194,400 by January 2027, making an after tax yearly difference of $25,715 or $494 weekly.

CFMEU construction division national secretary Zach Smith said the “historic agreement” was a “game changer” for the WA building and construction ­industry. “The cost-of-living crisis has belted workers, with the price of everyday essentials ­shooting up while interest rate hikes squeeze household budgets,” Mr Smith said.

“Now more WA workers will receive the sort of pay and conditions we’ve won for their brothers and sisters on the eastern ­seaboard. We’re throwing down the gauntlet to WA’s building and construction industry.

“These are exactly the sort of agreements we will fight for and win across the state.”

The pay deal came as the Albanese government moved closer to securing Senate crossbench support for its next round of industrial relations changes.

Sources said progress had been made in negotiations ahead of the bill being debated in the Senate this week but a deal was yet to be reached.

Hailing the “watershed agreement”, CFMEU Western Australian secretary Mick Buchan said “every single WA employer should be on notice”.

“This sets a benchmark we expect to be met across the industry,” Mr Buchan said.

“We were very clear when we launched our EBA campaign last year that we meant business, that we would do whatever it takes to secure increases in wages and conditions for our members during this cost-of-living crisis.

“Ten per cent upfront increases are fair and reasonable given we’re talking about one of the most profitable and the most dangerous industries in Australia. We won’t take a backwards step in locking in similar deals across the industry.“

The CFMEU said the union would continue to pursue annual 5 per cent increases on capital city projects on the eastern seaboard, where rates of pay had been higher than Western Australia.

The CFMEU deal with Multiplex follows an agreement last week between DP World and the Maritime Union of Australia, which will also deliver workers a 25 per cent pay rise over four years and a $2000 sign-on bonus.

Mr Smith said any suggestion the increases agreed by Multiplex would be inflationary was not supported by evidence. “That argument is always made by people who effectively want permanent wage restraint so big corporations can make even more profit at the expense of workers,” he said.

Multiplex, which had faced strike action before the deal was struck, declined to comment on Monday. Planned industrial action at Multiplex this week has been called off.

Under the agreement, overtime rates will increase from time and a half to double time, while the rostered days off calendar has been “locked in”, with 13 RDOs guaranteed annually and a further 13 flexible RDOs. Conditions, including rights for CFMEU delegates have been reinstated after being stripped out under the now abolished building code.

The agreement also provides for an increase in payments to the state portable redundancy scheme, ReddiFund, a higher travel allowance, increased income protection, and the payment of an industry training levy.

According to wage figures provided by the union, a level 3 construction worker currently earns $2921.85 gross for a 56-hour week, with the wage increasing to $3738.47 by January 2027.

Over the same period, the worker’s take home annual pay will increase from $110,538 to $136,253, while the take home weekly wage will rise from $2125 to $2620.

Launching the union’s enterprise bargaining campaign for Western Australia last year, Mr Buchan said “we’ll do whatever it takes to have our log of claims met for our members”.

“The industry knows how much the developers are making, and it’s not uncommon for these developers to be making an extra thirty per cent in their margins,” Mr Buchan said.