MASTER Builders Australia is calling for Labor politicians to take a stand against what it calls "construction union bullies".

“Every politician understands that the modern Australia says no to bullying, thuggery, coercion, intimidation and threats of verbal and physical violence. Bullying is not acceptable to the community – whether it's at work, in the street or in a park – it's simply not tolerated,” Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said. 

“Yet Labor, which wants to abolish the ABCC (Australian Building and Construction Commission), has offered no explanation of how they will respond to the overwhelming evidence of construction union bullying and lawlessness if they scrap the ABCC,” she said. 

“They have offered no explanation as to why previous politicians, including Paul Keating, Bob Hawke, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard were wrong when they promised to maintain strong compliance with workplace laws in the building and construction sector and crack down on building unions who didn't play by the rules like everyone else,” Ms Wawn said. 

“And they have offered no alternative plan to protect the 1.1 million workers and 370,000 small and family businesses from the bullying and intimidation that will surge if the ABCC is abolished.

“The ABCC is the only independent watchdog who tackles the bullying and thuggery that has plagued the building and construction industry for decades. 

“Four separate Royal Commissions, dozens of independent reviews and inquiries, and countless Federal Court judgements have all said the same thing – the ABCC is essential in making sure that the rules that apply in everyday communities are upheld on building sites.  The unfortunate reality is that construction unions think they are above the law and believe they don't have to play by the same rules that everyone else in the community accepts,” she said. 

“The evidence is there for everyone to see – construction unions are responsible for nearly 90 percent of breaches of Anti-Coercion, Freedom of Association, and Right of Entry rules. They are 10 times more likely to break coercion laws than any other union, 45 times more likely to break Right of Entry laws than any other union and are responsible for every breach of Freedom of Association laws from 2017 to the present,” Ms Wawn said. 

“Without the ABCC there is every reason to fear a surge in construction union bullying which will undermine the significant community contribution made by the nation’s second largest industry and biggest provider of full time jobs. Worse, the entire Australian community will pay more for much needed public and community infrastructure, like hospitals, schools and roads,

“Abolishing the ABCC will lead to dramatic increases in union power and strike action will be rife. Construction projects will be drawn out and protracted, resulting in massive blow-outs in costs. We can expect militant unionism to rule construction sites. History tells us that increases in strike action and industrial dislocation are inevitable without the industry watchdog and the industry-specific legislation which it enforces,” Ms Wawn said. 

“Bullying is not tolerated in the community so it should not be tolerated on construction sites. That is why Master Builders will continue to fight to keep the ABCC." 

Ms Wawn also quoted the words of former Labor Prime Minsters on the issue which, she said, backed up the stance of Master Builders Australia.

Kevin Rudd in a speech at the WA ALP State Conference, June 2, 2007:  “And as Labor indicated this week, when it comes to the construction industry, we support a strong cop on the beat. It is why we will continue with the current Australian Building and Construction Commission arrangements until the 31st of January 2010, when these responsibilities will move across to the specialist division of the inspectorate of Fair Work Australia. Certainly it is critical for the future of the construction industry and we will not tolerate the return of any unlawful practices.”

Julia Gillard, on ABC News Radio – Batholomew on august 2, 2007: “Obviously, what the building and construction sector is looking for is that they want a tough cop on the beat. They want to make sure there is strong compliance in the building industry with industrial law and we will be ensuring that by keeping the Australian Building and Construction Commission until January 2010 and then ensuring a seamless transition to a specialist division of Fair Work Australia which would be tough on compliance. We want to make sure that no one is engaged in improper conduct in the building industry, whether employer, union or employee.”

(Julia Gillard, in a speech in Melbourne, August 1, 2007:  “We will be tough by ensuring that the Australian Building and Construction Commission and, when its time comes, Fair Work Australia, are properly staffed and resourced to do the job they were established to do – to eradicate unlawful behaviour in the industry, whether it be perpetrated by unions, employees or employers. We have always said that Fair Work Australia needs a specialist inspectorate to deal with unlawful behaviour in the building and construction industry. But we will keep it as simple as possible.”

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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MINE WORKER and employer representatives have warned the Queensland Government that uncertainty about the royalty rates it applies to the resources sector is creating job uncertainty.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane and CFMEU Mining and Energy Division Queensland District president Stephen Smyth said the Queensland Government should rule out any increase in royalty rates applying to resource commodities, such as coal, metals and LNG, this week.

“Unemployment in Queensland is rising.  The resources industry, particularly coal, has been creating jobs and paying record royalties to the Government,” Mr Macfarlane and Mr Smyth said in a joint statement.

“Now is not the time to increase taxes on the industry, because increasing taxes creates uncertainty for investors and ultimately that means uncertainty for those men and women working in the resources industry.

“The Palaszczuk Government will receive more than $5 billion in resource royalties this financial year.  That’s a record Budget contribution from our industry.

“Instead of getting credit for generating record royalty revenues and record exports for Queensland, the men and women working in the resources sector are being told by southerners like Bob Brown to abandon their careers and reskill.

“The Queensland Government should give those mine workers, their families and their communities a commitment that it supports the industry and that it rules out increasing taxes and royalties that hurt the industry and force it to review planned investments and employment.”

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THE Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has welcomed ASIC’s announcement of a raft of measures to strengthen the complaints handling process within financial firms.

ASIC has today announced its intention to require financial companies to supply standardised data on their internal process for handling customer complaints. ASIC has signaled its intention to publish this information, naming the firms and their performance.

AFCA Chief Ombudsman and CEO David Locke welcomed the proposed changes, “Increased transparency is good news” he said.

“It will help firms to continuously improve, and that will be good for the firms and their customers alike.

“We also welcome the idea of requiring firms to provide a standard set of data – this will help companies know how they compare to their competitors and help to inform consumers about the companies they’re dealing with.

“In this digital age, the move by ASIC to require firms to include complaints made on social media platforms, is entirely appropriate” he said.

Noting that ASIC is consulting with industry about the proposed changes, Mr Locke observed the timeliness of the process and the proposed regulatory changes.

“ASIC’s aim to match dispute resolution data with AFCA data will provide a robust and accountable way to make sure the system is fully transparent.”

www.afca.org.au

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THE Federal Opposition’s plan to help victims of wage theft recoup entitlements is a welcome development, but stops short of necessary reforms to ensure super is paid to workers’ accounts at the same time as wages, Industry Super Australia said.

Industry Super Australia chief executive Bernie Dean said the only way to stop the millions of Australians being robbed of their super entitlements every year is for the major parties to commit to changing the law and requiring all employers to pay super at the same time as salary.

“Anything less is a band-aid solution that won’t fix the problem and will see millions of Australians end up worse off at retirement,” Mr Dean said.

New polling conducted by UMR has revealed that Australians overwhelmingly want the major parties to take action on unpaid super at this election, with 89 percent of people polled supporting a law that would require employers to pay super at the same time as salary.

Of those polled, more than half said the issue would influence how they vote at this election. Mr Dean said people’s outrage on unpaid super was justified.

“Super is meant to be guaranteed for everyone, but we’re seeing that it’s not guaranteed at all for about a third of eligible workers,” he said.

“Hardworking Australians rightly expect that the super they are legally entitled to is paid into their account. Instead, rogue employers are ripping of these workers, and because the penalties are lax and enforcement is weak, they are getting away with daylight robbery.”

Mr Dean said the establishment of a new claims jurisdiction to help workers recoup lost entitlements was welcome, but didn’t fix the cause of the problem.

“If the law was changed we wouldn’t need to help workers’ get their super back because employers wouldn’t have been able to steal it in the first place,” he said.

“It’s disappointing the major parties are turning a blind eye to the fact that nearly three million Australians are having close to $6 billion in super entitlements stolen from them every year.

“Politicians are looked after – they have their own special law that guarantees they get paid super at the same time as they get paid their wage. But what about the rest of Australians? It’s a double standard to have one rule for politicians and another for average Australians.”

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