Say what you will about John Setka – at least he had the sense to resign. The same can’t be said of certain others,who cling to their well-paid jobs as Rome burns.
Victoria’s major road and rail projects mean we are building fewer houses,at greater expense. The construction union’s grip is affecting costs,efficiency,quality and the availability of skilled labour.
The union speaks to Labor’s working-class voters more than any other. Now the party fears the CFMEU has a long memory.
When Faruk Orman aligned with ex-AFL goalsneak Kayne Pettifer to secure CFMEU support for a labour-hire firm,it was a case study in underworld figures monetising union backing.
Five years ago,the head of Australia’s union movement demanded Setka’s resignation. What happened next allowed him to not only survive,but thrive.
Three sources familiar with conversations inside the government and union movement said NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rothman was among candidates being discussed as a potential administrator.
If Sydneysiders were like Parisians,we would be taking to the streets this weekend to demand the government rectify the motorway and tolling systems that bedevil motorists all over the city.
Will Labor look after households or protect its friends in the union movement? One way to tell will be whether it forces tainted officials out the door.
A construction company battling CFMEU standover tactics wrote to top Labor politicians detailing their trouble and offering proof.
The move is an attempt to cauterise the political damage over revelations of underworld infiltration into the scandal-plagued construction union.
The union’s national body wants policymakers and the public to think it’s taken a strong step. It hasn’t.