Queensland CFMEU branch used 'threats and coercion' to cause fear, report finds

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A bombshell report has laid bare stunning allegations of a culture of violence, intimidation, misogyny, and bullying within the Queensland branch of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU).

Transcript

00:00This report was commissioned by the CFMEU administrator, Mark Irving, and it was compiled

00:07and put together by the well-known lawyer, Geoffrey Watson.

00:12Mr Watson interviewed 55 people over a three-month period in putting this report together, which

00:18details allegations of violence, misogyny, intimidation and threats.

00:23In this report, Mr Watson wrote, and I quote,

00:26the CFMEU in Queensland actually intended to inflict physical, sexual, emotional and economic

00:32abuse on others.

00:34The CFMEU used threats and coercion deliberately to cause fear.

00:39Mr Watson ultimately said, though, that he fears that his report has only scratched the

00:43surface of the issues within the branch of the CFMEU in Queensland.

00:48Can you give us a bit more detail on some of the more serious allegations?

00:51Well, it details a number of serious allegations in this report, Alex.

00:56This included one alleged incident where a CFMEU official apparently told an industrial

01:01relations representative of a contractor, and I quote, there's a bullet with your name

01:06on it.

01:07We're going to get you.

01:08The report also details a number of alleged incidents involving workplace health and safety

01:13inspectors.

01:15In one incident, the report says an inspector was at the funeral of a friend's wife, where

01:20he was approached by three men who said expletives to him.

01:24In another incident, an alleged incident detailed in this report, an inspector was approached

01:28by a workman holding an angle grinder.

01:31Now, both of these workplace health and safety inspectors were apparently featured on videos

01:36that appeared on the CFMEU's Facebook page.

01:39And the report also details allegations of the CFMEU targeting the Australian Workers Union in one

01:46alleged incident on Labor Day in 2023.

01:50An Australian Workers Union official and her 13-year-old daughter were at this event where

01:55they were allegedly confronted by a man who called this woman a grub and a sellout before

02:00speaking directly to the child.

02:02And in another alleged incident in June 2023, an AWU organiser at the crossover rail site

02:09in Brisbane was allegedly told by CFMEU members, we know you have two young sons and we know

02:15where you live.

02:15Yeah, very serious allegations.

02:17So how has it gone down with the union administrator?

02:20Well, the union administrator, Mark Irving, says change must occur within the CFMEU.

02:26He said a formal apology will be issued to those people who've been the victim of these allegations.

02:33And he also has said union employees who communicate with the former leadership of the CFMEU, he

02:39says those people will be dismissed.

02:42Ultimately, Mr Irving called for this report to be compiled.

02:46He said, and I quote,

02:47The report shows the CFMEU branch embraced a culture which encouraged and celebrated the

02:52use of threats of violence, intimidation, misogyny and bullying.

02:56Mr Irving says he'll now initiate disciplinary action against people who are named within this

03:01report.

03:02He says he will dismiss people from the union if need be, although he says some people

03:06already have been dismissed.

03:08He says some things also won't be changing, though, in that he says that he wants the union

03:12to be steadfast in its commitment to keep members safe when they're at work.

03:16Has the Chris O'Fooley government had anything to say about it?

03:19Yes, we've seen the Queensland LNP government response today describing these allegations

03:24in this report as shocking.

03:26Here's a little more of what the Deputy Premier, Jared Blay, said.

03:31Because of the issues we'd been prosecuting for years, I thought I'd seen it all in the

03:37CFMEU.

03:38But even I was shocked at the report and the findings in the report.

03:43The violence, the cruelness, the misogyny, the threats, the bullying, the intimidation

03:52was laid bare in this report.

03:56The administrator described it to me yesterday as systemic horror.

04:02Deputy Premier, Jared Blay, responding to this report there.

04:06He says the Queensland government won't be taking action to deregister the CFMEU here

04:11in Queensland, although he says that the government is open to making law changes.

04:16This is Alex.

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