Thousands of construction workers rally in Melbourne and Sydney

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Tens of thousands of construction workers and their supporters have rallied in Melbourne and Sydney protesting against the CFMEU being put into administration.

Transcript

00:00Union officials say today's rally marks a line in the sand.

00:06They say members are fed up and angry, and they're not going to let this administration

00:11period lead to a drop in wages or in standards.

00:15So they've come out today in their thousands.

00:18Last time there was a rally, just after the government put the CFMEU into administration,

00:2460,000 people turned out across the country, 50,000 here in Melbourne, and there have been

00:29thousands who have turned up again today.

00:33Union officials say that enormous number has put politicians on notice, and they've come

00:38out today demanding that the administration doesn't change any of the EBA settings, doesn't

00:45drop standards.

00:47There is a lot of anger towards the government, towards the administrator.

00:51There's a lot of support for Zach Smith, the national leader, and for other union leaders

00:56who are represented here today.

00:58And there's still support for John Setka, who was the Victorian boss of the CFMEU, but

01:03was pushed out following allegations of corruption and criminal infiltration into the CFMEU.

01:10But they have vowed to keep fighting, take a listen to what the National Secretary had

01:15to say a little earlier today.

01:17Governments will come, and governments will go.

01:21And the administration has come, but the administration will go.

01:26But the union, the CFMEU, and all the building unions will be here for another 170 years

01:33and long after that.

01:38This rally comes on the same day that the administrator, Mark Irving, released his response

01:44to an interim report into the CFMEU, which was sparked by putting it into administration.

01:50The report found there is a cycle of violence and intimidation, particularly in the Victorian

01:55branch of the union, and that it had been infiltrated by bikies.

02:00It has implemented all of the recommendations from that report, and the administrator has

02:05vowed to crack down on bikies in the union, while these people here are vowing to fight

02:11on as well.

02:12So there is a lot to play out in this saga.

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