Press Releases

The CFMEU National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan has condemned threats by the ABCC to fine construction workers up to $42,000 for participating in next week’s Change the Rules political protests.

The ABCC has issued an email to employers about the political protests around the country next week, advising that workers must seek their boss’s written permission to participate, and that they could face fines of up to $42,000.

The union has described the action as a blatant attempt to frighten workers off attending the political protest.

In a formal submission to the coronial inquest into the death of construction worker Jorge Castillo-Riffo, his widowed partner Pam Gurner-Hall has called for the establishment of a new, independent safety commissioner for South Australia and for coronial inquests into deaths at work to be mandatory.

Mr Castillo-Riffo was crushed to death on the Royal Adelaide Hospital building site in November 2014. 

The CFMEU has called for Malcolm Turnbull’s industrial political attack dog, the ABCC, to be wound up after a judge criticised a case as “a completely unnecessarily waste of public money”.

“Last financial year the Turnbull government spent more than 10 million dollars in its attack on construction workers," said John Setka, Victorian Secretary of the CFMEU Construction Division. “Again and again the Liberal Party’s ABCC is caught out blowing their budget and overreaching in their ideological war against unions.”

A construction company used by Malcolm Turnbull and Michaelia Cash at a press conference in 2016 to announce the prospect of a double dissolution election has admitted to breaking the law.

The CFMEU has called on the Turnbull Government to immediately implement the key finding of the Murray report into Security of Payments. The report recommends that progress claims and retention monies be held in statutory trusts.

The union says the reform would help ensure that sub-contractors were protected and workers could be paid.

CFMEU National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan said head contractors are currently able to access these funds for other purposes such as cash flow.

The CFMEU has welcomed news of a settlement between its former Canberra organiser, John Lomax, and the Australian Federal Police, over his wrongful arrest during the Trade Union Royal Commission (TURC).

CFMEU National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan said the TURC taskforce arrested Mr Lomax in an orchestrated blaze of publicity, ensuring that his arrest and the allegations made against him received widespread national and international media attention.

“Mr Lomax’s good name was dragged through the mud by the Australian Federal Police and the TURC taskforce.”

Thousands of Australians will hit the streets to demand more secure work and fair pay.
We need you to be part of it.

 The Turnbull Government’s building industry attack dog has issued new Building Code rules that specifically ban the Eureka Flag from being displayed on a building site. 

If an employer breaches the Code, they are ineligible to compete for Government work. 

CFMEU National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan said it showed that nothing had changed at the ABCC since former boss Nigel Hadgkiss was forced to resign after breaking the very laws he enforced. 

In a matter listed for call-over in the ACT Supreme Court today, the CFMEU will allege that the Australian Federal Police taped a private phone call between a CFMEU official and a former ACT Police Minister’s office, and illegally leaked it to the media.

The Turnbull Government’s proposed legislation to control worker entitlement funds could lead to the loss of apprentice jobs, and erode the union movement’s ability to deliver vital industry health and safety programs.

The Fair Work Laws Amendment (Proper Use of Worker Benefits) Bill seeks to control worker entitlement funds, which support workers who are made redundant. Interest from these funds supports health, safety and welfare programs, training and education in one of the most dangerous industries with high rates of suicide.