Make or break: firm forced to ‘pander to union boss’
Andrew Stafford |
The patriarch of a family-run demolition firm says a former union organiser had the ability to make or break his company and others in the construction industry.
Neile Rosenlund told Queensland’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU that Jade Ingham had to be appeased rather than argued with.
“With Jade you don’t cause an argument, you pander to him,” the Rosenlund demolition business boss said.
“I don’t remember the exact words, but he indicated that ‘we run the industry, and if you upset us, you’re not going to get to work’.
“Jade had all the power to make or break companies like ours.”
He said the demolition firm was mostly subcontracted by builders of large-scale projects for work.
If his company fell out with Mr Ingham, the union organiser would then label Rosenlund an “industrial risk” to the builders, Mr Rosenlund told the inquiry.
But the demolition man also tried on more than one occasion to stand up to the union, he said.
In a CCTV video shown to the inquiry, Mr Rosenlund and his son Darcy can be heard screaming at two CFMEU members, Trevor Sinclair and Dean Reilly, to leave the Rosenlund offices.
Mr Sinclair and Mr Reilly had alleged Rosenlund was underpaying staff.
Mr Rosenlund said he once withdrew a tender to demolish Brisbane’s old law courts on George Street after being told he was required to hire a delegate of the CFMEU’s choice.
Earlier, the inquiry was told the union had bullied Rosenlund to hire a former professional boxer as a way to intimidate the contractor and its employees.
Trent Broadhurst, a former light heavyweight, then went on to cause chaos as site manager of a major project.
“He was a very volatile man,” Mr Rosenlund’s son Ryan said of Mr Broadhurst.
Mr Broadhurst was hired after Rosenlund, which had a long-standing relationship with the CFMEU, was engaged to demolish the flood-prone Toombul shopping complex in 2024 by site owner Mirvac.
Union delegate Eben Cox, a former mixed martial arts fighter, demanded Mr Broadhurst be employed, telling Rosenlund the order had come from Mr Ingham.
Ryan Rosenlund said he was told if Mr Broadhurst was not hired “you won’t pick up a shovel on the site again”.
The threat amounted to an existential threat to the business, he said.
“We were locked in with Mirvac, and any delays would not only impact us, it had the potential to impact other Mirvac sites,” Ryan Rosenlund said.
Mr Broadhurst was alleged to have frequently shut down work, blowing out the cost of the project.
He allegedly deliberately “trashed” the site’s toilets, only to then shut the site down on the grounds the workplace was unsanitary.
Mr Broadhurst festooned the site with CFMEU paraphernalia, with Ryan Rosenlund agreeing the site office looked like a “shrine” to the union.
He was removed as a CFMEU delegate in September 2024 by the union’s administrator, Mark Irving KC.
The inquiry was shown footage of Mr Broadhurst, Mr Cox and Mr Sinclair knocking out opponents in various boxing and MMA tournaments.
Counsel assisting Eddy Gisonda said the footage had previously been shown to Ryan Rosenlund, who felt he had no choice but to comply with the CFMEU’s demands.
He said an EBA struck between the CFMEU and Rosenlund before the project cost the company an extra $293,000 in wages.
The union also allegedly charged Rosenlund a fee of $2970 for entering into the revised EBA.
Mr Gisonda said that was a possible contravention of the Fair Work Act, which prohibits bargaining services fees.
The inquiry also heard Ryan Rosenlund was pressured to force his workers to join BUSSQ, a small superannuation fund directed by former CFMEU strongman Michael Ravbar.
Ryan Rosenlund said he resisted, saying that superannuation was a matter for individual workers.
AAP