News

Senator Derryn Hinch’s backflip in relation to the ABCC is a cowardly act that reveals he is in the pocket of property developers and construction companies, according to the CFMEU.

National CFMEU Construction Secretary Dave Noonan said Senator Hinch’s erratic change of mind will deliver worse safety, more casual jobs, and prevent restrictions on temporary work visas.

“This cowardly deal cut in the dead of night with a government in crisis, brings back Workchoices style laws that mean hundreds of thousands of workers in the industry will be worse off.

The Australian Border Force is hopelessly under resourced to intercept the arrival in Australia of illegal asbestos products and other dangerous non-conforming building products, a Senate inquiry will hear today in Brisbane.

“Minister Dutton is putting the health and safety of the Australian people at risk by turning a blind eye to cheap imported building materials that do not comply with Australian law” according to Mr. Brad Parker, Assistant National Secretary of the CFMEU Construction Division.

Our Union is backing a determined fightback by severely exploited labour hire contract coal mineworkers in our NSW South West District. With the backing of their families, the labour hire mineworkers have already demonstrated their resolve with two major public protests involving over 1,000 supporters taking part in the town of Appin and the city of Wollongong.

An apparently red-faced Hutchinson Builders have spent the first week of 2017 cleaning up after another near miss on one of their projects.

Sheer luck was on Hutchinson’s side as an eight-metre high brick wall came toppling down on the multi-million Villanova College building rehabilitation project during the school holiday period.

It's the winning season! TCFUA members in Ingleburn NSW have voted return to work after Huggies maker Kimberly Clark backed down.

Following the courageous stand taken by Huggies workers and fantastic solidarity from unionists around the country, the dispute is over.

Huggies workers have won:

• No two-tiered wage system
• No 25% wage cut for new workers
• No loss of conditions
• A new agreement with pay rises, and;
• 10 days domestic violence leave.

Workers at Kimberley Clark who make Huggies nappies are fighting to retain their pay and conditions following demands from the company that new workers take a 25% pay cut.

Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia National Secretary, Michele O’Neil, said the workers are taking industrial action as a result of this attempt to downgrade their pay and conditions.

“There has been a breakdown in negotiations for a new agreement because the company has declared that it wants a two–tiered wage system with some workers receiving 25% less than the current rate.

Workers in AGL’s Loy Yang power plant will be taking protected industrial action on 28 December. The stop work action follows 14 months of attempts to bargain with AGL who refuses to genuinely bargain for a fair outcome for workers.

CFMEU Mining and Energy Victorian District Secretary, Geoff Dyke said he is disappointed the company has been unwilling to bring an end to the industrial dispute, instead attempting to pressure workers to accept insecure workplace conditions.

The CFMEU is calling on the Australian Building and Construction Commission to reveal how much taxpayers’ money they have wasted in courts in their latest ideological battle against the union.

National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan made the call after the Full Court of the Federal Court yesterday dismissed an ABCC submission to take away the Right of Entry permit of the CFMEU Queensland Secretary, Michael Ravbar.

“This is their third attempt at trying to take away Mr Ravbar’s Right of Entry. They lost a case, not once, not twice, but three times.

The TCFUA and CFMEU have signed an Amalgamation Memorandum of Understanding, increasing the likelihood of finalising the amalgamation of the two unions by the first half of next year.

“The signing of the Amalgamation MOU gives us a clear way forward to finalising the amalgamation, hopefully in early 2017,” CFMEU National Secretary Michael O’Connor said.

The passing of the bill to bring back the ABCC by the Senate this morning has sold out the civil and industrial rights of 1 million Australian workers.

CFMEU National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan said that the rights of 1 million construction workers have been sold down the river by cross bench senators to horse trade with the government on other issues.

“These are laws that will take away rights, will endanger safety and conditions for ordinary workers in the industry. We know this because we’ve been here before and that’s what happened.”