SYDNEY — Over 2,000 construction, electrical and other union workers and their supporters marched and rallied Nov. 12 at the state Parliament here to protest the federal government takeover of the construction division of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union. The protest was organized by the Electrical Trades Union.
In August, the government appointed an administrator to oust the leadership of the CFMEU construction division and take it over. Several hundred elected union representatives and officials were dismissed. This followed sensationalized media allegations of criminal conduct and organized crime links by union officials. Workers are demanding that their elected representatives be reinstated. Any problems in their union can be resolved by the workers themselves.
Organizers and delegates still working for the union were ordered by the government administrator not to promote or join the Nov. 12 action. Workers were told that their employers could take action against them if they walked off the job to participate. Two previous protests had seen thousands of construction workers walk off the job nationwide to defend their union.
“They did everything they could to threaten us, frighten us, intimidate us and try and stop us coming here today,” union delegate Denis McNamara told the rally.
The High Court will hear the ousted leadership’s challenge to government administration Dec. 10 and 11 in Canberra. A union rally is scheduled to coincide with the court action there.
The Building and Wood Workers International, representing 12 million construction workers in 140 countries, condemned the government takeover of the union at an international meeting in November. “The CFMEU has been stripped of its right to a trial and its right to the presumption of innocence,” it said.