Left unions threaten ALP with vengeance over Setka

Left-wing unions have threatened the ALP if the party pushes ahead and sacks John Setka.

CFMEU Victorian secretary John Setka. Picture: David Geraghty

Left-wing union allies of John Setka are threatening to withdraw millions of dollars in financial and campaign support from the ALP, as the Victorian CFMEU moved to unleash a membership war against rival unions demanding his resignation.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese yesterday stared down threats by Mr Setka to halt all ­donations from the Victorian CFMEU to the ALP, declaring his move to have Mr Setka expelled from the party was based on “his long history of bringing the Labor Party into disrepute”.

After the number of unions backing the call by ACTU secretary Sally McManus for Mr Setka to resign increased to 13 yesterday, left-wing union leaders in Victoria issued statements expressing support for the construction union boss. Mr Setka won the backing of the Victorian branches of the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the ­United Firefighters Union, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union and the plumbers union.

Mr Setka also secured the support of national officials of the ETU who declared “when you ­attack the members’ right to choose their leadership, you are attacking the whole organisation and the wider union movement”.

“We believe John deserves a fair trial,’’ they said.

Victorian ETU secretary Troy Gray said the union’s state council, which authorised $1 million in donations to the ALP in recent state and federal elections, would meet next month to consider cutting donations to the party.

“We are getting a bit sick of ­opposition Labor leaders getting into power and within weeks having a crack at the construction ­unions because we are easy marks because we look big, bad and rough,’’ he said.

“It happened under Kevin Rudd. It happened under Julia Gillard. I am not saying John is without fault, but we are getting tired of this sport of kicking the construction unions to strengthen their profile.”

The Victorian CFMEU passed a series of extraordinary resolutions demanding the union’s ­national leadership back Mr Setka at a meeting in Canberra this week, and declaring all financial support for the ALP would be immediately withdrawn by the state construction branch if he was expelled next month.

Hitting out at unions that had called for Mr Setka to resign, the Victorian CFMEU said it would no longer recognise long-held membership coverage and demarcation lines with unions that had attacked the branch.

The Australian Workers Union is one of the unions calling on Mr Setka to resign and if the CFMEU branch acts on its threat there could be a revival of damaging membership turf wars on Melbourne construction projects.

The branch called on the union’s national leadership to issue a statement of support for Mr Setka and “condemn the cowardly manufactured leaks” from the last national executive meeting about Mr Setka’s comments about anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty. The branch said it would ­appoint an independent investigator to audit the phone records of individuals who attended the meeting and conduct a “forensic IT and phone audit of all employees” to try to find out who leaked documents detailing expletive-laden text messages sent by Mr Setka to a woman. It said the documents “held by only a very few” were leaked in a “spineless attempt” to bring down Mr Setka.

“Given that the relevant documents concerned were also in the hands of Gordon Legal, the investigation will also include those individuals employed by Gordon Legal who had access to these documents,’’ it said.

AMWU Victorian secretary Tony Mavromatis said last night the union condemned external interference in union matters and Mr Setka should remain in the job until CFMEU members decided otherwise.

The UFU’s Victorian branch secretary, Peter Marshall, said the branch believed Mr Setka “should remain secretary and not resign, as that is clearly a matter that is ­decided solely by his members, and not third parties”.

“With the current public ­debate, one has to question ­‘solidarity forever’,’’ he said.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union ­Victorian secretary Luba Grigorovitch said the branch believed Mr Setka “should have a right to a fair trial” and “the right to address personal issues with his family”.

“John Setka has always supported the concerns of RTBU members in Victoria,” Ms Grigorovitch said. “He has a strong track record of standing up for the safety and living standards of working people and deserves his day in court to make his case, unhindered by outside interference.’’

Plumbers union Victorian secretary Earl Setches expressed support for Mr Setka and condemned the “manufactured” leak from the CFMEU national executive.

Responding to Mr Setka’s promise to challenge legally any expulsion, Mr Albanese said “political parties had a right to determine who’s a member or not and it’s not unusual for people to be ­excluded from political parties”.

He said Mr Setka had indicated he would plead guilty to “quite ­serious charges” at a court hearing on June 26 and the proceedings would occur before the ALP ­national executive met to consider expelling him from the ALP.

Asked why he didn’t speak ­directly to Mr Setka about his ­alleged comments about Ms Batty, he said he did not know him and had spoken to other people at the national executive where the comments were made.

Mr Albanese said Mr Setka had acknowledged he had mentioned Ms Batty and the family violence royal commission in the context of his court case relating to harassment charges.

Mr Albanese said it was not just about the comments relating to Ms Batty but the fact neither he nor the union movement could get “clean air” over several days because of the focus on Mr Setka.

The ETU’s Mr Gray said he was a supporter of Ms McManus: “I think she could quite possibly have put herself in a position where she cannot move. I have more chance of being the next Pope than John Setka has of resigning. He has the overwhelming support of his executive, his delegates and his membership. I think Sally, if she had her time again, could have chosen her words differently.”

He said the unions calling for Mr Setka’s sacking were largely from the ALP Right.