Page 138 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2016
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The myth that unions always act with the employees’ best interests at heart has well and truly been put to the test by the evidence that has come to light during the royal commission. The bullying and standover tactics that have been proven to have been adopted by some unions, in particular the CFMEU, are not inflicted solely on businesses. It seems that these tactics are used on employees as well. The same tactics are perpetrated on those the union claims to protect and represent, namely, workers.
On too many occasions and too many job sites, it has come to light that employees who do not toe the line and join the union are victimised. The royal commission uncovered evidence of widespread threats to employees who refuse union membership. In one instance that was highlighted, a union official warned an employer to move an employee off a particular job simply because he did not want to become a union member.
This behaviour is a kick in the guts for the honest workers and the honest business owners in the building and construction industry. There are many hardworking, honest, law-abiding business owners and workers alike. Some are card-carrying union members, whilst some are not. Most of them in their entirety just want to get on and do the job they have been hired to do. They want to get on with the job in an environment that is free from fear and free from intimidation.
As we know, the ACT featured heavily in the hearings of the royal commission. The fact that criminal activity, most notably the alleged extortion and blackmail of tens of thousands of dollars by a union official, and dare I mention a former officer holder within the ACT ALP, was found is incredibly disturbing. Over the three weeks of the royal commission hearings relating to Canberra activity, individuals from our local construction industry bravely and publicly shone a light on the cultural intimidation, bribery, corruption and thuggery, not to mention the cartel behaviour, being perpetrated by the ACT branch of the CFMEU across construction sites here in the ACT.
This behaviour has been ongoing for a long time and, on a daily basis, right under our noses. A recent survey conducted by the Master Builders Association here in the ACT found that 60 per cent of respondents had had their livelihoods threatened if they did not sign the CFMEU’s pattern EBA. Half of those surveyed had been told by CFMEU officials that they could not perform work unless their employees were union members, 70 per cent of people had been verbally intimidated by a union official, and a very disturbing 40 per cent had been physically intimidated.
According to the ACT government’s own Getting home safely report, safety on construction sites stems from a workplace culture of consultation and collaboration between all parties, yet for years this has not been the case. When workplace safety is allowed to be used as a tool to litigate industrial relations disputes, it is the safety in workplaces that is the first victim.
As a result of the royal commission, we now know that the CFMEU has raised in excess of $1.2 million in 2014 alone from undisclosed payments in enterprise bargaining agreements here in the ACT. That is $1.2 million in one year, just here in the ACT, of undisclosed funds. This does not include membership or so-called
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