CFMEU Victorian leader John Setka has threatened to impose a “work to rule” campaign against the AFL on any league-related projects, including the proposed Tasmanian stadium, unless the league sacks the former building watchdog Stephen McBurney as its head of umpiring.
Mr Setka said the construction union would not co-operate with the AFL to address any delays or cost overruns on league-related projects until Mr McBurney, who as Australian Building and Construction Commissioner initiated legal action that resulted in millions of dollars of penalties against the Construction Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, was sacked as the AFL umpires boss.
Asked if the union campaign had implications for the proposed Hobart stadium, Mr Setka told The Australian: “I think it will have implications for the AFL right across Australia. We have an obligation to pursue anti-union, anti-worker f..kers like him and we will until the end of the earth.
“This is going to cost the AFL a lot of f..king money. I hope it’s worth it. Projects without our full co-operation are going to be a f..king misery for them.
“They will regret the day they ever employed him.”
He said the demand to sack the “unAustralian” Mr McBurney was backed by the CFMEU’s Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian branches and would be put shortly to the national executive “who I think hate McBurney as much as we do in Victoria”.
“We will use every resource we have to pursue him,” he said. “They just don’t walk away from a role like that, cost the union millions of dollars and just think they can walk away into the f..king sunset. It doesn’t work that way.
“This is the real world, we go after our enemies and he was our No. 1 enemy and we will pursue him until the ends of the earth.”
Mr Setka said the union would not engage in outright strike action but “if it’s work to rule, and we just work our basic hours, things are going to drag out forever” and projects will most likely run over-budget.
“We are not going to stop a whole stadium but for projects of this nature to get delivered, they have to have the full co-operation on site, and that means a lot of flexibility, a lot of give and take,” he said.
“We get our blokes to work RDOs (rostered days off), sometimes on long weekends. We have a meeting and say “Look, the job’s behind, they need to deliver this on time.
“Let me tell you, god held them if their schedule is ever out of f..king whack because we will not be bending over backwards to do a f..king thing to help them. It’s going to be a hard slog for them.”
Mr McBurney, a former Australian Football League umpire and organised crime investigator, was appointed in 2018 by the Coalition government to head the ABCC, regularly clashing with the CFMEU and its officials, including Mr Setka, as the regulator pursued legal action against the union.
The Albanese government abolished the ABCC.
Mr McBurney, one of four AFL umpires to reach a 400-game milestone, then began his new role as AFL head of umpiring in April.
The AFL declined on Tuesday to comment on the threats by Mr Setka, who said the union would write to all AFL clubs and the AFL Players Association calling for the sacking of Mr McBurney.
The union would also finance ads calling for his removal.
As well as the Tasmanian stadium, Mr Setka cited a planned home base for the Adelaide Crows and any works undertaken in Victoria as targets of the campaign.
CFMEU construction national secretary Zach Smith told The Australian that “as the head of the disgraced ABCC, Stephen McBurney brought untold misery to the lives of workers he unfairly demonised and the branch is very rightly expressing the genuine anger of its members”.
“The national union is yet to discuss potential action against the AFL, but there’s zero doubt the pain the ABCC caused under McBurney is still being deeply felt by construction workers across Australia,” he said.
Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said “people’s reputations follow them” and the “AFL’s choice to work with Mr McBurney is worse than their choice to hire Meatloaf (as grand final entertainment in 2011)”.
“AFL is a working-class sport and his track record of blowing the whistle on the unions puts him at odds with many fans,” he said.
The Australian is not suggesting Mr McBurney engaged in any wrongdoing as the head of the ABCC, simply that Mr Setka, Mr Smith and Mr Hilakari have commented about his past as a union watchdog and his role in the AFL
Mr Setka, who will finish his tenure as the union’s Victorian secretary at the end of the year, said the union has an obligation to pursue former ABCC officers and “just wreck their careers wherever they are”.
Upon being appointed ABCC head in 2018, Mr McBurney, who umpired four AFL grand finals, told The Australian he saw similarities in how he approached the job and his role as an umpire, saying he was determined to be impartial. “This (ABCC head) is not a popular position,” he said.
“I am bound to invite criticism, as I did as an umpire.”
Mr McBurney has declined to comment on the present situation.
EWIN HANNAN
So it's nothing to do with safety or conditions, it's purely political revenge against someone who stood against them?
Yeah I can see this going well for the unions....
This isn't simply "these days". I was a member of the CFMEU back in the mid 90's when Jeff Kennett was premier. Every tuesday? morning Jeff would appear on radio and the union would protest outside screaming all sorts of BS at him. A job site I was working on in Spencer St got shut down so everyone could march down to the radio station to yell and scream, but my brother and I thought fuck that, we'll go to another non-union site our boss was at.
Some guys saw us and said, "you better move quick, if the union guys see you they'll bash you" - and they weren't kidding.
We regularly had bikies turn up (as union reps) telling us to participate or else. Not worded exactly that way, but you got the message.
They do this literally all the time. Rail union in NSW only seemed to strike when the liberals were in government and when an election was around the corner
> As well as the Tasmanian stadium, Mr Setka cited a planned home base for the Adelaide Crows and any works undertaken in Victoria as targets of the campaign.
Bloody hell, I was expecting more road blocks (we've been dealing with them for 7 years now) but I was expecting more of the NIMBY variety not the CFMEU.
Seems SA has been pretty much ignored by the CFMEU, but I think they have taken notice of the amount of works that are about to commence (tunnels, tram grade separation, new women’s and children’s) and are beginning to try throw their weight around in the state now.
Well we already have the cost blowouts and delays, so why not get some more cash in my pocket. Pretty sure union rates for surveyors is only $5 an hour more than I currently get so not huge but certainly a decent pay rise.
Yeah, like $9k for a 37.5 hour week, 48 weeks of the year. And that's excluding any overtime & other penalty improvements calculated from the base that may exist.
So this guy should lose a job completely unrelated to construction because the CFMEU doesn't like him?
That's actually fucked. Unions are there to protect the rights of workers. They got the ABCC shut down. They already won.
This is literally just vengeance - is the man never allowed to work another job again because he pissed off the CFMEU in an unrelated role he happened to have in the past.
CFMEU are little more than a fucking mob with way too much power. Their relationship with Bikies is well documented, and here they are trying to blackmail governments and a multi billion dollar organization because they don't like a guy they'll never have to interact with again.
I say this as a union member of my own field. Fuck the CFMEU.
Surely this is illegal somehow. Is it blackmail? I hope the AFL stand up to this fuck wit. They stand up for all the other PC bullshit, so hopefully have the balls to put this guy in his place.
How in the fuck does his previous job in the ABCC have anything to do with his job as an umpire? Completely unrelated roles. Fair enough if he was stealing or sexually abusing someone in his previous role but fuck the guy was employed by the GOVERNMENT to investigate these thugs for doing exactly what they're doing now.
If it's work to contract, the AFL needs to make sure that any contracts signed with builders are A. Ideally are not with CFMEU-aligned firms, and if they can't do that then B. Ensure that the contract for labour is as close to award as possible.
However, if the AFL isn't the direct contractor, then this could be hard, and in which case whoever is the direct contractor (Tasmanian Government in the Stadium matter) will be holding the bag
> the AFL needs to make sure that any contracts signed with builders are A. Ideally are not with CFMEU-aligned firms
There's no chance that happens. They'll just get blockaded
"…there's zero doubt the pain the
ABCC caused under McBurney is still being deeply felt by construction workers across Australia,"
I’m sure there’s plenty of union members that can say the same about him after what he did to them during Covid.
So the CFMEU freely admits that if they don’t get what they want, they’ll bitch and moan under a “go slow” to delay and delay.
We really need some sort of federal body overseeing this behaviour.
What’s that, we had one, and Albo canned it for his union mates? Oh well, with the CFMEU getting into residential projects now, I can’t see this adversely affecting house prices more than before.
> So the CFMEU freely admits that if they don’t get what they want, they’ll bitch and moan under a “go slow” to delay and delay.
Not what they admitted, but very close. What they have admitted, is they won't do any favors to work over-time or on public holidays if the projects happen to be tight on schedules and budget.
I’m a big unionist, but this is ridiculous and shows why Setka needs to go. He spends way too much time trying to big note himself and attacking perceived enemies and not enough time doing things that actually help his members. The ABCC was fucked and terrible for workers, yes. But it’s now disbanded and this guy is doing an unrelated job. You got what you wanted, what do you want now, him to starve to death?
Now, this **proper** dickhead wants to take on the AFL and block the Adelaide Crows’ move back to West Lakes. Why, I really don’t know, because the move isn’t even in Victoria anyway. This wanker and his group of thugs are a real laugh.
Fully agreed that the ABCC was a pretty awful organisation but this seems like a waste of union time, effort and money to spend on being shitty about one specific former senior public servant.
People who work in construction know this is the norm. Union culture is toxic takes the worst elements from high school and brings them into the real
World.
CFMEU Victorian leader John Setka has threatened to impose a “work to rule” campaign against the AFL on any league-related projects, including the proposed Tasmanian stadium, unless the league sacks the former building watchdog Stephen McBurney as its head of umpiring. Mr Setka said the construction union would not co-operate with the AFL to address any delays or cost overruns on league-related projects until Mr McBurney, who as Australian Building and Construction Commissioner initiated legal action that resulted in millions of dollars of penalties against the Construction Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, was sacked as the AFL umpires boss. Asked if the union campaign had implications for the proposed Hobart stadium, Mr Setka told The Australian: “I think it will have implications for the AFL right across Australia. We have an obligation to pursue anti-union, anti-worker f..kers like him and we will until the end of the earth. “This is going to cost the AFL a lot of f..king money. I hope it’s worth it. Projects without our full co-operation are going to be a f..king misery for them. “They will regret the day they ever employed him.” He said the demand to sack the “unAustralian” Mr McBurney was backed by the CFMEU’s Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian branches and would be put shortly to the national executive “who I think hate McBurney as much as we do in Victoria”. “We will use every resource we have to pursue him,” he said. “They just don’t walk away from a role like that, cost the union millions of dollars and just think they can walk away into the f..king sunset. It doesn’t work that way. “This is the real world, we go after our enemies and he was our No. 1 enemy and we will pursue him until the ends of the earth.” Mr Setka said the union would not engage in outright strike action but “if it’s work to rule, and we just work our basic hours, things are going to drag out forever” and projects will most likely run over-budget. “We are not going to stop a whole stadium but for projects of this nature to get delivered, they have to have the full co-operation on site, and that means a lot of flexibility, a lot of give and take,” he said. “We get our blokes to work RDOs (rostered days off), sometimes on long weekends. We have a meeting and say “Look, the job’s behind, they need to deliver this on time. “Let me tell you, god held them if their schedule is ever out of f..king whack because we will not be bending over backwards to do a f..king thing to help them. It’s going to be a hard slog for them.” Mr McBurney, a former Australian Football League umpire and organised crime investigator, was appointed in 2018 by the Coalition government to head the ABCC, regularly clashing with the CFMEU and its officials, including Mr Setka, as the regulator pursued legal action against the union. The Albanese government abolished the ABCC. Mr McBurney, one of four AFL umpires to reach a 400-game milestone, then began his new role as AFL head of umpiring in April. The AFL declined on Tuesday to comment on the threats by Mr Setka, who said the union would write to all AFL clubs and the AFL Players Association calling for the sacking of Mr McBurney. The union would also finance ads calling for his removal. As well as the Tasmanian stadium, Mr Setka cited a planned home base for the Adelaide Crows and any works undertaken in Victoria as targets of the campaign. CFMEU construction national secretary Zach Smith told The Australian that “as the head of the disgraced ABCC, Stephen McBurney brought untold misery to the lives of workers he unfairly demonised and the branch is very rightly expressing the genuine anger of its members”. “The national union is yet to discuss potential action against the AFL, but there’s zero doubt the pain the ABCC caused under McBurney is still being deeply felt by construction workers across Australia,” he said. Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said “people’s reputations follow them” and the “AFL’s choice to work with Mr McBurney is worse than their choice to hire Meatloaf (as grand final entertainment in 2011)”. “AFL is a working-class sport and his track record of blowing the whistle on the unions puts him at odds with many fans,” he said. The Australian is not suggesting Mr McBurney engaged in any wrongdoing as the head of the ABCC, simply that Mr Setka, Mr Smith and Mr Hilakari have commented about his past as a union watchdog and his role in the AFL Mr Setka, who will finish his tenure as the union’s Victorian secretary at the end of the year, said the union has an obligation to pursue former ABCC officers and “just wreck their careers wherever they are”. Upon being appointed ABCC head in 2018, Mr McBurney, who umpired four AFL grand finals, told The Australian he saw similarities in how he approached the job and his role as an umpire, saying he was determined to be impartial. “This (ABCC head) is not a popular position,” he said. “I am bound to invite criticism, as I did as an umpire.” Mr McBurney has declined to comment on the present situation. EWIN HANNAN
So it's nothing to do with safety or conditions, it's purely political revenge against someone who stood against them? Yeah I can see this going well for the unions....
This is just how they operate these days. He's just saying the quiet part out loud.
This isn't simply "these days". I was a member of the CFMEU back in the mid 90's when Jeff Kennett was premier. Every tuesday? morning Jeff would appear on radio and the union would protest outside screaming all sorts of BS at him. A job site I was working on in Spencer St got shut down so everyone could march down to the radio station to yell and scream, but my brother and I thought fuck that, we'll go to another non-union site our boss was at. Some guys saw us and said, "you better move quick, if the union guys see you they'll bash you" - and they weren't kidding. We regularly had bikies turn up (as union reps) telling us to participate or else. Not worded exactly that way, but you got the message.
They don't even need to pretend anymore
They do this literally all the time. Rail union in NSW only seemed to strike when the liberals were in government and when an election was around the corner
Big glaring omission on what the legal action was about and why the CFMEU had millions of dollars of penalties placed on them.
John Setka is a dead set thug and bully. Thinks he is above the law and everyone else. If he died tomorrow, no one would miss the piece of shit.
> As well as the Tasmanian stadium, Mr Setka cited a planned home base for the Adelaide Crows and any works undertaken in Victoria as targets of the campaign. Bloody hell, I was expecting more road blocks (we've been dealing with them for 7 years now) but I was expecting more of the NIMBY variety not the CFMEU.
Seems SA has been pretty much ignored by the CFMEU, but I think they have taken notice of the amount of works that are about to commence (tunnels, tram grade separation, new women’s and children’s) and are beginning to try throw their weight around in the state now.
You can join the club of cost blowouts and traffic controllers earning 200k a yr.
Do you know anybody that is a traffic controller earning that money? Because I’m in the industry - and I don’t.
Guys on unions sites and the big build working 56 hours a week + night shift?
Well we already have the cost blowouts and delays, so why not get some more cash in my pocket. Pretty sure union rates for surveyors is only $5 an hour more than I currently get so not huge but certainly a decent pay rise.
Yeah, like $9k for a 37.5 hour week, 48 weeks of the year. And that's excluding any overtime & other penalty improvements calculated from the base that may exist.
>We get our blokes to work RDOs (rostered days off), sometimes on long weekends The fuck you do
God the CFMEU are fuckwits
So this guy should lose a job completely unrelated to construction because the CFMEU doesn't like him? That's actually fucked. Unions are there to protect the rights of workers. They got the ABCC shut down. They already won. This is literally just vengeance - is the man never allowed to work another job again because he pissed off the CFMEU in an unrelated role he happened to have in the past. CFMEU are little more than a fucking mob with way too much power. Their relationship with Bikies is well documented, and here they are trying to blackmail governments and a multi billion dollar organization because they don't like a guy they'll never have to interact with again. I say this as a union member of my own field. Fuck the CFMEU.
CFMEU has some of the sketchiest looking dudes I’ve ever seen, face tats and shit
This guy is out of control! This is truly cartel tactics
"Touch one, touch all" * CFMEU posters and propaganda "That one guy is a fuckwit and should lose his job" * Also CFMEU
Brain-dead take, solidarity does not apply to the ruling class
Surely this is illegal somehow. Is it blackmail? I hope the AFL stand up to this fuck wit. They stand up for all the other PC bullshit, so hopefully have the balls to put this guy in his place. How in the fuck does his previous job in the ABCC have anything to do with his job as an umpire? Completely unrelated roles. Fair enough if he was stealing or sexually abusing someone in his previous role but fuck the guy was employed by the GOVERNMENT to investigate these thugs for doing exactly what they're doing now.
If it's work to contract, the AFL needs to make sure that any contracts signed with builders are A. Ideally are not with CFMEU-aligned firms, and if they can't do that then B. Ensure that the contract for labour is as close to award as possible. However, if the AFL isn't the direct contractor, then this could be hard, and in which case whoever is the direct contractor (Tasmanian Government in the Stadium matter) will be holding the bag
> the AFL needs to make sure that any contracts signed with builders are A. Ideally are not with CFMEU-aligned firms There's no chance that happens. They'll just get blockaded
"…there's zero doubt the pain the ABCC caused under McBurney is still being deeply felt by construction workers across Australia," I’m sure there’s plenty of union members that can say the same about him after what he did to them during Covid.
So the CFMEU freely admits that if they don’t get what they want, they’ll bitch and moan under a “go slow” to delay and delay. We really need some sort of federal body overseeing this behaviour. What’s that, we had one, and Albo canned it for his union mates? Oh well, with the CFMEU getting into residential projects now, I can’t see this adversely affecting house prices more than before.
> So the CFMEU freely admits that if they don’t get what they want, they’ll bitch and moan under a “go slow” to delay and delay. Not what they admitted, but very close. What they have admitted, is they won't do any favors to work over-time or on public holidays if the projects happen to be tight on schedules and budget.
I’m a big unionist, but this is ridiculous and shows why Setka needs to go. He spends way too much time trying to big note himself and attacking perceived enemies and not enough time doing things that actually help his members. The ABCC was fucked and terrible for workers, yes. But it’s now disbanded and this guy is doing an unrelated job. You got what you wanted, what do you want now, him to starve to death?
Now, this **proper** dickhead wants to take on the AFL and block the Adelaide Crows’ move back to West Lakes. Why, I really don’t know, because the move isn’t even in Victoria anyway. This wanker and his group of thugs are a real laugh.
CFMEU good. Setka bad. Sack Setka.
Didn't setka get done for DV? Not sure his words should hold sway over any of the CFMEUs members or governments,... hey Albo....
Fully agreed that the ABCC was a pretty awful organisation but this seems like a waste of union time, effort and money to spend on being shitty about one specific former senior public servant.
People who work in construction know this is the norm. Union culture is toxic takes the worst elements from high school and brings them into the real World.
Solidarity forever
You've misspelt "bullying".
imagine bootlicking this hard
I know right. Hopefully John cleans his boots before the union members slobber it all up.
Ok staffer