<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>327700</docID> <postdate>2024-08-27 09:08:27</postdate> <headline>CFMEU blowback ‘expected’ ahead of city rallies</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-327701" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240716155648323204-original-1-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Tradies will walk off the job on Tuesday to protest the CFMEU being forced into administration. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Tess Ikonomou</strong> and <strong>Andrew Brown</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Widespread protests in support of the embattled CFMEU were expected following laws placing the union into administration, the treasurer says.</strong></p> <p>Thousands of construction workers across Australia risk having their pay docked when they take part in rallies across capital cities on Tuesday, after the CFMEU was placed into administration by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, amid allegations of links to organised crime and corruption.</p> <p>In a statement, a spokesperson for the Fair Work Ombudsman said if a worker failed to turn up or walked off the job without permission, it could be a contravention of workplace laws.</p> <p>"Where an employee has engaged in unprotected industrial action, the employer is required under the (Fair Work) Act to deduct a minimum of four hours wages from the employee, even if the industrial action was less than four hours," it said.</p> <p>Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the reaction to the union laws was not surprising, but called for calm.</p> <p>"Obviously, when you appoint an administrator to a union and you move on a couple of hundred officials, there's going to be blowback, we expect that," he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.</p> <p>"We want these protests to be peaceful today, but they're not surprising when you take on the leaders of a union with the sort of behaviour that has been alleged in recent times."</p> <p>The old leadership of the CFMEU had flagged a legal challenge of the takeover, saying members were denied due process and their democratic rights.</p> <p>Dr Chalmers said despite the protests, the administration laws for the union were necessary.</p> <p>"Our goal here is to clean up the CFMEU to get it back to representing its members and workers in a really important part of our economy," he said.</p> <p>"Unions and leaders of unions are overwhelmingly a force for good in our economy and in our society. You can't say that about the leaders and recent activities of the CFMEU."</p> <p>A spokesperson for the CFMEU administrator said "the taking of unprotected industrial action is not lawful".</p> <p>"The CFMEU is no longer involved in organising any protest tomorrow," they said.</p> <p>NSW Premier Chris Minns said having administrators at the helm of the union meant the "bad eggs (were) absolutely" gone</p> <p>"There might be a last gasp today, but nothing will change, and it's important that the new leadership of the CFMEU are put into place," he told 2GB.</p> <p>The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and maritime union backed the protest and urged their members to join rallies, describing the administration as an "attack on trade unionists' rights".</p> <p>In a social media post, the ETU slammed the treatment of the union in comparison to companies which weren't placed into administration following royal commissions into banking and aged care.</p> <p>"The CFMEU on the other hand - one of Australia's strongest unions, is now forced straight into administration on the back of a handful of rumours and allegations," the post reads.</p> <p>"The hypocrisy is staggering!!"</p> <p>More than 200 CFMEU officials were terminated after the attorney-general placed its construction and general divisions into administration, alongside all of its state and territory branches.</p> <p>Any union property possessed by officials such as cars, mobile phones, laptops and documents could be seized.</p> <p>The administration period could last up to five years and officials found guilty of crimes would be banned for life and unable to become bargaining agents at other registered organisations without holding a fit-and-proper-person certificate.</p> <p>Former CFMEU NSW secretary Darren Greenfield and his son Michael, a former union leader, will have their cases return to court in NSW over corruption charges.</p> <p>The pair, who are on bail, are accused of accepting bribes from a building company for preferential treatment from the union and access to contracts.</p> </body>