Yesterday, the High Court ruled against a union challenge to the Labor government appointing a CFMEU Administrator, Mark Irving KC. In court, the administrator claimed that:
“The Administration is committed to returning the union to the membership as a strong democratic, member-controlled union, enduringly free of corruption and criminal influence as soon as possible,” he said.
What this says to me is that the union no longer has officials, only administrators. The rank and file do not have leadership because they have been criminalised.
But what about the democratic rights of the workers?
Where are the delegates’ meetings? Is the administrator going to call elections for union delegates? When are construction workers to elect their delegates and officials?
The administrator took over the CFMEU in August 2024 and removed 270 union officers, mostly from volunteer positions.
Here are some questions I have for union members.
1) What is your response to the failure of the CFMEU High Court challenge?
2) Does the union have a proper delegate structure? Are there delegates meetings?
Response: “The issue with the delegates is that they are spread incredibly thin so it’s hard to build relationships with the workers and spread information effectively.”
3) Who can assure union members that they will have safe working conditions on the job and will not be exploited by the boss?
4) Do workers still have the right to strike on safety issues?
Response: There are HSRs, i.e., safety delegates, one per contractor safety walk. PINs are issued for heat. But this only works when the job site is unionised.
Question: Where do HSRs get their power from?
Response: They had legal power until recently. Well they still do but it used to be that they HSRs instructed the employer to shut down but the LNP changed that a year or so ago. HSRs instruct the individual worker to not proceed with work.
What about sites like the casino or cross river rail?
Response: Heat is a big issue on cross river rail where a number of workers have died. The union put on a number of blues about this. Different strategies are employed, some are go slows, and these are preferred to long-term strikes.
Question: What about the casino site in George Street, CBD?
Response: The site was hopelessly managed so much so that a lot of the contractors were going broke because management didn’t bring in the trades in the right order so you had a lot of subbies just hanging around waiting to be called to do their work. They’ve got to pay their their workers while they just hanging around doing nothing … that brings a lot of pressure on the subcontractors, and, you know, some of them just go broke. Someone must have made a submission when they went to build on the other side. … you know the connection across William Street. They brought in a different head contractor who did know how to organize the trades in the right order. It was only then things started to operate so that subcontractors could just get on with their job and get paid and then pay their workers.
5) Is the union free from political interference?
6) Can workers agitate against anti-workers laws, like the laws against secondary boycotts?
7) Are workers and their unions to be confined to the narrow ravine of wage labour?
8) What of the broader union horizons: to oppose war, discrimination, unfair dismissal, sexism, racism, and denial of democratic rights and the right to organise?
Recently, workers at the Wickham hotel in Brisbane Magan-djin walked off the job because Zionists wanted to put on a dance party at the venue. Two of the workers were subsequently sacked, and the other workers were threatened.
What protection do they have without the union? What are their rights to oppose the genocide in Gaza and the complicity of Zionist politicians?
Ian Curr, 19 June 2025
References
All I can find that express workers’ perspectives are posts about it on instagram but not articles.
https://www.instagram.com/hardhatbulletin/reel/DLD2paiB-Yg/
https://www.instagram.com/hardhatbulletin/p/DLBdVgWho1O/
CFMEU QLD
On Thursday (10/7), the CFMEU Administrator Mark Irving released Geoffrey Watson’s report on “Violence in the Queensland CFMEU” as well as Irving’s response to the report. On Sunday (13/7), Queensland Premier, David Crisafulli announced that his state government will launch a Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU Queensland branch.
Watson’s report is a mix of concerning allegations about violence and sexism, and a terrible re-hashing of ABCC talking points about the CFMEU’s “attitude to industrial prosecutions”. Watson marvels that “many large trade unions had not been prosecuted for a single breach” while 213 cases had been brought against the CFMEU. Watson claims that the reason the union broke industrial laws was in order to maintain an “outlaw reputation”.
It seems likely that Crisafulli and his government will latch upon these elements of the report, and muddy them with the allegations of violence, in order to demand a return to the ABCC and to push down wages and conditions. The first recommendation from Watson’s report is that any CFMEU member who is prosecuted for a breach of industrial laws must justify “why they should not be disciplined for their unlawful conduct.” Discipline, according to Watson, can include getting sacked and losing your union membership. It is clear that for all the salacious allegations in the nearly 12 month long administration of the CFMEU, at the core of it all is the desire from the state, the courts and sadly most corners of the labour movement to de-fang the CFMEU.
As Watson records in his report “One politician asked a very good question – “the CFMEU is so aggressive, but the AWU is not. Both are building unions – why the difference?””. The short answer is that the CFMEU has been prepared to break industrial laws and push back against bosses for a better and safer deal for workers, and the AWU hasn’t. See https://open.substack.com/pub/disputesreport/p/industrial-disputes-and-news-16-july?r=kddnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
The role of Shop Stewards is the backbone of our Union
This meeting of Victorian Shop Stewards süpports the framework put to the meeting by National Secretary Zach Smith to protect and empower this critical role, which includes:
Shop Stewards will be required to have 5 years of uninterrupted membership,industry experience and a demonstrated commitment to union values and
principles.
Shop stewards must be elected by the members on the job that they represent at the commencement of the project and once during the life of the
project.
The Union will put in place a process to ensure that the recruitment and transfer of delegates will be made accountable. The recruitment and transfer of shop stewards must come to a meeting of the senior branch leadership.
To the greatest extent possible, before election, potential shop stewards will be placed with an experienced shop steward for a process of mentoring for 12 months.
All Shop Stewards will be required to sign the National code of conduct
All new shop Stewards will have a comprehensive induction, including History and achievements of the CFMEU.
Union Values
Role of Shop Stewards
Safe and supportive workplaces
In due course, all existing Shop Stewards will be inducted through the above
process.
We recommit the expectation of all Shop Stewards to perform their duties to
their full capacity. including but not limited to:
Making sure their workplace is 100% financial;
Being on the job;
Compulsory report back meeting;
Attendance at union meetings;
Representing members to our fullest extent including seeking assistance where necessary.
All shop stewards are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the union’s statement of values.