Victorian building unions are threatening a strike of up to three days if employers don’t stop a “sustained attack” on pay and conditions following the construction union being placed into administration.
The Electrical Trade Union state secretary, Troy Gray, issued the threat at a Melbourne rally on Wednesday as union members’ anger spilled on to the streets for a second day of action since Labor and the Coalition teamed up to create powers to appoint an administrator.
The administration was sparked by allegations of criminal and corrupt conduct in the Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union, claims which were supported by an interim report from an independent investigator appointed by the union finding the Victorian branch was “caught up in a cycle of lawlessness” and had been “infiltrated” by bikie and organised crime figures.
But Gray told Guardian Australia he was “sick of hearing” about former Victorian CFMEU secretary, John Setka, and allegations of wrongdoing by a small minority he labelled “one per centers”.
The Fair Work Commission has delayed new proposed union pay deals to check employers were not coerced into them and Gray said that 4,000 CFMEU members had their “wages deducted by 5%” as employers who agreed to an interim pay rise had reneged “given that logjam”.
Gray claimed that some employers were refusing to meet union representatives and refusing to sign new pay deals, leading to “exploitation” of building workers.
“If there are employers who are going to use these circumstances to attack wages and conditions by not signing new EBAs [enterprise bargaining agreements] there will be a third rally called, and the rally can decide [on unprotected action],” Gray said.
Gray said union members “don’t want to walk for 72 hours” but that would be the option considered next Wednesday at a further rally if the “sustained, orchestrated attack” on union pay deals continued.
“We’re not going to allow 100 years of unionism to go down the drain. The message today was a line in the sand: we’ve had enough.”
Asked what would be needed to avert a strike, Gray said that so far only six pay deals had been finalised out of 800 Victorian employers who would normally sign up, suggesting unions would “want 200-300” pay deals processed in the next six weeks or so.
The shadow workplace relations minister, Michaelia Cash, said that Wednesday rallies had brought Sydney and Melbourne “to a standstill”, accusing the Albanese government of “losing control of the construction sector”.
She called on the workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, to apply to the Fair Work Commission or use his personal powers to suspend or terminate the threatened unprotected industrial action.
On Wednesday, Watt was questioned about that possibility but said he would “need to give that some consideration” as it was “the first I’ve heard of that”.
“I think it is important to note that a rally that has been held in Melbourne today is primarily about an EBA dispute within the industry rather than about the CFMEU administration itself,” Watt told the National Press Club in Canberra.
“Workers have got rights to take protected action under our legislation.”
Watt defended the independent industrial umpire’s decision to “pay a little bit closer attention than they normally would” to construction industry pay deals, but noted that the administrator had “met with the Fair Work Commission to come up with a method of being able to get those EBAs through as quickly as possible while making sure that all the requirements are met”.
Watt said he was “confident” they would now be approved, claiming some had already been approved. The FWC later confirmed 29 agreements have been approved in the last two months.
Watt said Labor hoped to reform the culture of the building industry by reconvening the national construction industry forum, which will meet again in October.
Watt said the Albanese government will commission a review of industrial relations laws to be finalised by the end of January, but would not bring any further reforms this term.
Asked if Labor would release all its industrial relations policies before the election, Watt said: “I think governments always take items to an [election] and then deliver extra things after they’re elected, and you’ve obviously got to make a judgment about whether you think that’s within the spirit of your mandate or not.”
