Those cheering on Labor鈥檚 attack on the construction division of the Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) claim it is responsible for the 300,000 shortfall in promised new homes.
But blaming the CFMEU for听slowing down projects and driving up costs makes no sense when the union does not have enterprise agreements with, or members in, the housing industry, the peak body of which is the Housing Industry Association.
Contradictory claims regarding the construction sector鈥檚 鈥減oor productivity鈥 are being thrown around, despite 41,000 workers joining the industry last financial year.
听forecasts construction jobs will grow by 2% (74,300 jobs) over 2024鈥25. The industry employs 1.3 million people now. It is also common knowledge that there is insufficient skilled labour for a significant housing construction drive.
Federal authorities have launched听听officials and others in the industry.
Construction bosses met with Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt on October 16.
Australian Constructors Association chief Jon Davies told The听Age听he was hoping for an agreement to 鈥渇ix chronic problems including low productivity and the failure of many building firms鈥.
But there was no promise from Watt to raise apprenticeship numbers or provide training for greater numbers of carpenters, electricians and plumbers.
Instead, Watt lauded the Fair Work Ombudsman鈥檚 investigations and Mark Irving, the appointed administrator, while conceding Irving was having difficulty convincing complainants to report corruption. He implied this was due to intimidation rather than there being nothing to complain about.
Despite nearly a dozen CFMEU officials being sacked following a听, corruption has still not been proven.
This costly attack on the CFMEU is beginning to resemble that of former Coalition Prime Minister Tony Abbott鈥檚 $45.9 million 2014听.
That investigation interviewed 505 witnesses over 189 days, only to find one person guilty and, even then,听corruption was not found. One CFMEU official was sentenced to a $500 good behaviour bond for disposing of documents that were later found to be irrelevant.
The construction industry employers鈥 main agenda has nothing to do with CFMEU corruption. They want to destroy the unions鈥 ability to organise safely, particularly through the pattern bargaining of enterprise agreements.
The CFMEU has always supported the practice of applying pay deals won through enterprise bargaining with big construction firms to smaller companies. This means that workers doing the same job on a site all receive the same pay and conditions.
To ensure bosses stick to these agreements, the union provides well-trained shop stewards and health and safety representatives to maintain high standards. These workers are serviced by industrial organisers and elected officials.
Construction bosses want the right to roll back this arrangement that.听麻豆传媒听understands that in Victoria, to date, only 35 of this year鈥檚 new CFMEU enterprise agreements have been signed off.
A quick glance at听听shows just how untrustworthy some industry bosses are.
, the director of听a plumbing company was fined $20,000 for driving a ute with a teenage apprentice in his toolbox.
, a construction company was fined $125,000 after a second-storey formwork failed during a concrete pour, causing three workers to fall more than two metres.
,听a steel and precast company was fined $160,000 after bypassing a 60-tonne crane鈥檚 safety system before it toppled into a building, narrowly missing two workers.
,听a concrete company was fined $30,000 after a worker鈥檚 hand was partially amputated in a concrete pump.
These are non-fatality cases but every year in Australia approximately听.
Construction workers鈥 lives are regularly put at risk because of their employers鈥 many cost-cutting decisions. If not for construction unions鈥 attention to safety, the rate of deaths and injuries would be even higher.
Meanwhile, 23 officials from the National Building Industry Group, representing more than 250,000 workers, decided on October 16 to organise a 鈥淭rade Unions for Democracy Summit鈥 on December 9.
They will hold a mass rally the next day when a High Court challenge to the听听is heard.
It also passed a resolution condemning Labor for its forcible administration of the construction division of the CFMEU, saying it lacked natural justice and 鈥渢rial by Parliament and media is not how we do things in Australia鈥. It also condemned the CFMEU administrator for banning CFMEU officials and staff from attending the meeting.
The December summit aims to bring unionists from across the country together to discuss campaign to restore union democracy and discuss the future of militant trade unionism.
It will also consider proposals for political, industry and social campaigns to support union democracy, which could include funding and supporting union-friendly candidates in the federal election.
麻豆传媒听understands that another nationwide rally to protest the undemocratic anti-CFMEU law may be organised on October 30.