CFMEU members have had their union benefits suspended in an unprecedented crackdown on cost blowouts in Queensland’s major construction projects.
Last Thursday, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie announced the government would be putting a pause on the “sweetheart” Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPICs) deal on new government-funded construction projects.
The deal included a number of lucrative pay lurks for CFMEU members including double time for working in the rain, one ‘picnic day’ on the first Monday of December and a per-hour on-site allowance of up to $10 an hour for those working on bigger builds.
But with recent treasury modelling revealing BPIC would cost the state $ 17.1 billion by 2030 and productivity taking a nosedive since the deal was introduced, Bleijie said the best move forward would be placing a “pause” on the provisions until a review of the construction sector could be completed the re-established Queensland Productivity Commission.
“Workers deserve and will be paid well. Workers deserve safe workplaces but productivity must return to construction sites,” Mr Bleijie told a panel discussion at a Queensland Major Contractors Association event in Brisbane.
“Queenslanders shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of this which is why we’ve ordered this pause and review.
“It will also give sub-contractors, especially small and family businesses and regional firms, a greater chance of securing work on government projects, without all the costs and time involved in having to gain unnecessary prequalification.”
Minister for Transport and Main Roads Brent Mickelberg said pausing BPICs would also allow for new projects to go ahead without additional overheads, while the QPC review is carried out.
“The cost of delivering critical road and rail projects that are needed to deliver the infrastructure our growing State needs will be reined in,” Minister Mickelberg said.
“We will honour existing contracts and work with industry as best as we can to help deliver those on time and on budget.”
Minister for Housing and Public Works Sam O’Connor backed the move, claiming that the BPICs impact would be felt across all major projects across the entire construction sector.
“Independent Treasury modelling shows Queenslanders will pay more to rent a home and there will be fewer homes built in our state under the current BPIC conditions, it would be irresponsible to ignore this advice in the face of a housing crisis,” Minister O’Connor said.
“If BPICs were to continue, they would also apply to energy and storage projects implemented by Government Owned Corporations, placing upward pressure on electricity prices and household cost of living.”
The ‘pause-and-review’ won’t apply to government infrastructure jobs that are already underway or on already-approved enterprise agreements, but officials haven’t ruled out applying the changes retrospectively to scrap the previous agreements once a decision is made.
Tradies aren’t happy
Modelling or not, tradies are understandably upset that they are missing out on some pretty sweet pay perks promised by their unions.
“Don’t let these grubs get away with it,” wrote one worker on the CFMEU’s Facebook page.
“CFMEU says no and so do I!” wrote another.
CFMEU officials even labelled the pause as a bid to use the unions as a “scapegoat” for cost blowouts on taxpayer-funded infrastructure and lay the groundwork for “anti-worker” industrial relations policies.
“It is typical of the LNP to blame construction workers and the CFMEU for infrastructure cost blowouts,” CFMEU QLD/NT Civil Construction Coordinator Dylan Howard said in a media release shared to social media.
The LNP have undeniably had the CFMEU in their sights after the construction arm of the embattled union was placed into administration in August following allegations of criminal conduct and organised crime links on job sites.
Officials also pledged they would ‘stop the rot’ in government-backed projects after unearthing blowouts of $494 million for the Cross River Rail project and $330 million for a Gold Coast light rail stage.
But Howard claimed the CFMEU had nothing to do with the blowouts on government-backed projects, instead pointing the finger at the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) for their poor handling of taxpayer funds.
“TMR projects such as the Cross River Rail are plagued by terrible safety standards, poor planning, comical design faults and a lack of basic construction methodology and sequencing,” he said.
“The CFMEU recently submitted a Right to Information (RTI) request to TMR because we too want to know where taxpayers money is going. Unsurprisingly, the RTI was denied by the department.
“We’re willing to sit down with the LNP, TMR and the contractors to pinpoint where and why costs are blowing out on these projects.
“Where the CFMEU has been involved in the delivery of public infrastructure – such as the construction of Queensland’s satellite hospitals and railway station upgrades – the projects have been delivered on time and on budget.”
The CFMEU also warned the pause on the BPIC’s Heat Policy, which sees workers down tools once a site reaches 29C and/or 75 per cent humidity, would put tradie lives at risk heading into the nation’s summer months.
“The CFMEU heat stress policy is not about stopping production. It’s about saving lives,” said the group in a social media post.
