00:00Two members of the state's construction union, escorted out by police after heckling during
00:08an industry event.
00:09Good morning everybody, welcome to breakfast.
00:13The Deputy Premier announced during his speech special conditions for construction union
00:18workers on major state projects would be suspended due to cost blowouts and plunging productivity.
00:26The Treasury forecast said that these sweetheart deals with the CFMEU between now and 2030
00:31would cost Queenslanders $17.1 billion.
00:37Best practice industry conditions, or BPIC, are pay and conditions that must be provided
00:43for construction workers.
00:45The deal between unions and the former Labor government began in 2018 for parts of the
00:51Townsville Stadium, but was extended to all public projects over $100 million.
00:58The conditions include double time when it rains, stop work if the temperature reaches
01:0335 degrees or 29 degrees and 75% humidity, 26 rostered days off and $100 a week if a
01:13worker has to use their own phone.
01:16The CFMEU says scrapping the policy will impact safety and wages.
01:22This will lead to a dangerous deregulation of the labor market and more workers dying
01:27on construction sites.
01:30The Electrical Trades Union has condemned the decision, labelling it political point
01:35scoring at workers' expense.
01:38Others have welcomed it.
01:40We said they were never best practice and they certainly weren't standard industrial
01:44conditions.
01:45Those projects are going ahead, they're just costing a lot more and we as taxpayers are
01:49footing the bill.
01:50The BPIC pause will remain in place well into next year.
01:54The government wants to first re-establish the Queensland Productivity Commission, which
02:00will then review the construction sector before it decides what happens next.
02:06The LNP says workplace health and safety standards, training for apprentices and trainees won't
02:12be impacted.
02:15For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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