On-site violence as CFMEU ‘youth crew’ chase rivals
Robyn Wuth |
CFMEU members allegedly roughed up two rival union officials outside a major public transport project leaving a senior manager fearing for his safety, a state inquiry has heard.
A 30‑strong crowd in black “youth crew” shirts swarmed two Australian Workers Union organisers after a June 2023 meeting at Brisbane’s Cross River Rail Gabba station site, the probe was told on Wednesday.
“They were shoulder charging them, pushing them, grabbing their backpack and shoving them around,” former CPB Contractors industrial relations adviser Michael O’Brien said.
He said the ferocity of the confrontation made it “the only time I would say that I was fearful on the project”.
After he tried to escort the pair out a side gate, the group “came tearing around the corner, running and screaming at them”.
Mr O’Brien said it was the first time he had seen CFMEU‑linked figures “get physical”, and the ferocity of the language and behaviour made him fear for the officials’ safety.
He also recalled about 100 people massing outside Brisbane’s Boggo Road site after a serious fall, chanting his name and waving signs attacking CPB’s industrial relations team, which he saw as part of a targeted campaign against company staff.
The commission, led by Stuart Wood KC, is probing the influence of the CFMEU and the now‑scrapped Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC) policy on major Queensland projects.
Earlier, CPB executive Vince Sanfilippo said a Bruce Highway upgrade near Gympie blew out by more than $30 million for the company after BPIC – based on CFMEU “minimum standards” – was imposed on the job.
He said CPB added about $23 million to cover higher wages and conditions and another $11 million for delays linked to implementing BPIC, lifting the price of its tender by roughly 13 per cent.
“I was disappointed to see the CFMEU’s minimum standards carried over into transport projects,” he said.
Mr Sanfilippo said the Department of Transport and Main Roads began asking unusual questions in late 2020 about how CPB would manage subcontractors, rostered days off and industrial risk under the new regime.
He warned senior bureaucrat Amanda Yates that forcing contractors to ensure everyone on site – including subcontractors – was paid at certain rates would, in CPB’s view, be unlawful.
“Ms Yates advised me in subsequent conversations that my understanding of the legal and code implications was correct,” he said.
That same day, she sent him a confidential draft policy showing KPMG had drawn on civil construction agreements, standard contract terms and a CFMEU “minimum standards” document to frame the conditions.
“To see it in bold print and the CFMEU drafting the minimum conditions was certainly interesting and disappointing,” Mr Sanfilippo said.
The inquiry has heard industry was shut out of early BPIC drafting while unions were invited to suggest changes.
The commission is due to report to the state government in July.
AAP