Unions push for a national ban on labour hire to kick bikies and organised crime out

Unions are pushing for a national ban on labour hire to kick bikies and organised crime out of the construction industry.

Unions are pushing for a national ban on labour hire to kick bikies and organised crime out of the construction industry.

Insiders have argued that labour hire companies who supply casual workers used on major projects had been the weakest link in the sector’s efforts to stamp out bribery and intimidation.

Unions have urged the CFMEU’s administrator Mark Irving, KC, and a Victorian Government review into the industry, to clamp down on alleged rorts in labour hire.

“Labour hire companies are at the heart of so many problems that have impacted on the union,” an insider said.

“If the administrator wants to clean up the industry, tackling labour hire is the biggest structural change he can do.”

Mark Irving KC has been appointed as CFMEU Administrator. Picture: Alex Coppel

An explosion of labour hire on Victoria’s multi billion Big Build construction jobs, including the Metro Tunnel and North East Link, have been blamed for cost blowouts.

Sources claim that up to 1000 labour hire staff were employed on the Metro tunnel rail link, compared with “almost none” on major projects built between 2000 and 2010.

However, the Master Builders Association chief executive Denita Wawn has warned that hiring direct employees would add millions of dollars to the cost of projects which relied on a flexible workforce.

“Why would a head contractor employ 200 tilers and try and place them all around different jobs when there may be a huge amount of down time,” she said.

“It would mean our buildings would cost a huge amount of money. You have to use subcontractors and subcontracting includes labour hire.”

Ms Wawn said she wanted new laws to stop “people of disrepute from being involved in the industry.”

Labour hire has been widely used on the North East Link project in Victoria. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Victoria’s $90 billion Big Build program has led to an explosion of construction work that also expanded the reach of the CFMEU.

However, leaked documents revealed that some of the CFMEU pay deals, particularly the North East Link, were between $8 and 12 an hour less than other unions.

The shortfall occurred after the CFMEU walked away from project agreements on civil jobs, which benchmarked wages.

The CFMEU, formerly run by controversial secretary John Setka, had also moved into road and rail projects that were traditionally covered by the Australian Workers Union.

The Big Build also created a surge in union delegates from around 300 to more than 600 across Victoria.

And it’s claimed that the sharp increase provided an opportunity for bikies to walk into the powerful jobs, which oversee safety on worksites.

Former Mongols bikie Tyrone Bell was among present and former bikies who became union delegates.

Joel Leavitt, who was employed by Top Up Labour, was caught on CCTV using his taxpayer funded car from a Big Build job to drive away after he was shot at a Rebels clubhouse last year.

Bell was pictured alongside Setka when he became a delegate and has since been linked to a new health and safety company Dynamis HSR.

Former CFMEU boss John Sekta has rejected attacks on the union. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

A union source said that bikies used labour hire because they could “get on site even though they didn’t have a trade.”

Top Up Labour did not respond to questions.

Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan’s office said: “We have always had zero tolerance for any sort of illegal behaviour. We are getting on with eradicating the rotten culture exposed in parts of the Victorian construction sector.

“We have established a licensing authority for labour hire firms, including a fit and proper person test for operators.

“These matters are being considered as part of the independent review being undertaken by Greg Wilson.”

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Originally published as Unions push for a national ban on labour hire to kick bikies and organised crime out