Vow to split from CFMEU ‘horror story’

Manufacturing division to apply in weeks to split from the ‘completely dysfunctional’ union.

Former CFMEU national secretary Michael O’Connor. Picture: David Geraghty / The Australian.

Fresh hostilities have erupted across the CFMEU after former national secretary Michael O’Connor attacked the union as a “horror story” and revealed its manufacturing division would apply in weeks to split from the “completely dysfunctional” union.

Dave Noonan, the head of the union’s construction division, hit back at Mr O’Connor, accusing him of sabotage and warning that legal action could be taken to retrieve more than $300,000 allegedly owed to the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union by the manufacturing division.

He questioned whether the manufacturing division was solvent and accused Mr O’Connor of engaging in hyperbole to damage the union name, saying it was “sour grapes” after he lost majority support as national secretary.

Mr O’Connor, who remains head of the manufacturing division, said he expected the division along with the Tony Maher-led mining and energy division to be gone from the union by next year after ballots of members were held. “I just want to make sure people understand that we are more determined than ever to get out,” he said.

“We expect our application to be filed in the next few weeks.

“I think there is continual damage to the reputation of the union because of the behaviour of the construction division … if we’re going to continue to advocate for good public policy for the people we represent, any asso­ciation with the CFMEU is a ­hindrance.”

He said controversy surrounding the conduct of the construction division, including the operation of the union’s South Australian branch, was detrimental to the manufacturing division’s work to represent members. “We think it’s going to get worse, we think this horror story has got a long way to go,” he said.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has severed ties with the John Setka-led Victorian CFMEU, ordering Labor to repay a $125,000 donation from the union division.

Mr Setka was recently installed as SA state secretary

Mr O’Connor said an election was held for nat­ional senior vice-president in the union but no one nominated. “It’s another sign the union at a nat­ional level is completely dysfunctional,” he said.

Mr Noonan said Mr O’Connor deliberately decided not to nominate for senior vice-president in an attempt at “sabotage to prove dysfunction”.

He said the manufacturing division was in a “parlous financial state under Michael’s management”, owing more than $300,000 to the construction division and the union’s national office and legal action over the alleged debts “might happen”.

“The first thing Michael O’Connor ought to do is ensure his division is solvent,” he said.

“It’s very hard to see how that would be the case with the level of membership it’s got and low membership income. We reject his exaggerated alle­gations of dysfunction. From where we sit, most dysfunction sits in the manufacturing division.”

The mining and energy division recently lost an appeal against a Fair Work decision rejecting its bid to split. It sought to rely on laws allowing unions to break away if they had amalgamated between two and five years before a demerger application.

Under ­a Coalition change, the commission can accept appli­cations made over five years after a merger, but the mining and energy division or the manufacturing division would have to document the construction division’s record of not complying with workplace or safety laws.

Asked if manufacturing would be citing the law-breaking of the construction division, Mr O’Connor said “what we do … and how we are going to run our application we’ll reveal later on”.