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CFMEU boss admits costly mistakes, vows change

Newly re-elected CFMEU State Secretary Aaron Cartledge has conceded his union made costly errors and failed to protect workers adequately during his first term. And he’s vowed to reverse its declining membership in his second.

Jan 13, 2017, updated Jan 13, 2017
CFMEU SA Branch state secretary Aaron Cartledge. Photo: supplied.

CFMEU SA Branch state secretary Aaron Cartledge. Photo: supplied.

In October, Jack Merkx – who had been the construction union’s delegate on the New Royal Adelaide Hospital site – announced he would run against Cartledge, triggering the first contested election for State Secretary in the union’s history.

Cartledge won the contest decisively – 70 per cent to 30 per cent – but he says he needs to change the way the union operates to win back the support of members who had become dissatisfied during his time as leader.

He says failures to protect the jobs of union delegates on construction sites, and to prevent the exploitation of Chinese workers, combined with the state’s high unemployment rate and a disastrous 2013-14 industrial campaign that cost the union millions, best explain the vote against him.

“A lot of dissatisfaction in the election was generated by the state’s unemployment,” said Cartledge.

“If our workers were in a worse position than they were in 12 months ago, they would be of the view that they had… nothing to lose from change.

“The key to having long-term wages and security is volume of work – when there’s a bit of work around… we’re able to make sure that [companies] sign enterprise agreements.”

But he admitted not all the union’s troubles can be attributed to a lack of jobs in the economy, and that he would have to change the way it operates to stem declining membership numbers.

Cartledge said the union’s strategy of sending officials onto construction sites, often illegally, over a period of about six weeks in late 2013 and early 2014 had seriously damaged its reputation, especially with potential new members.

He said that what had “seemed like a good idea at the time” resulted in 23 court cases and $2.5 million in fines and legal fees.

“We had 10 or more officials from interstate and the shit really hit the fan,” he said.

“The moment [companies] realised we had a truckload of interstate officials … they really came after us, big-time.

“From that point on everything got very legalistic.”

He said even when officials found problems on worksites during the campaign, “that means nothing in the court because you shouldn’t have been there to start with”.

“We just didn’t put notices [of planned entry] in,” he said.

“It’s an offence under the Act.

“We should have done it very differently.”

Cartledge said he had work to do to recover worker’s faith in the union.

“In two years, our membership has gone backwards month on month,” he said.

“I’m not naïve enough to think I can keep a job [with continuing losses of membership].

“I know we’ve got some things we need to fix up.”

Cartledge said that during the next four years, he hoped to ensure there is a union delegate on every major construction site, that more is done to prevent the exploitation of Chinese construction workers and that more companies are convinced to sign enterprise bargains – rather than hiring workers under short-term or casual arrangements.

“On all the major jobs we should have a shop steward [union representative],” he said.

“They need to have the confidence that they’ll be looked after.

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“We probably haven’t been able to protect those blokes when we should have.”

He said he would continue to lobby the State Government to pressure companies against using workers on short-term, casual arrangements – where, he argues, they should be employed full-time – on major taxpayer funded builds like the Torrens to Torrens and O-Bahn projects.

“Guys are probably finding it hard to find consistent work … rather than short-term contracts,” Cartledge said.

“We [have been] powerless to stop that method of employment on those major projects.”

He added that “the exploitation of the Chinese [workers] is a major issue” and “we have not stopped nine out of 10 examples of it”.

“We’re not inherently hopeless, but we’re certainly not the best branch we can be either,” he said.

Cartledge said he would implement new accountability measures to make sure union delegates worked more effectively on work sites – including Merkx.

He reiterated claims he made last year that Merkx had not recruited as many members during his time on the New RAH site as expected – but said that was not Merkx’s fault.

“For the amount of people that were on the job … we didn’t lock that job up like we should have,” Cartledge said.

“[But] I’m not saying it’s Jack’s fault.

“He was sailing along without a rudder, and I was the rudder.”

But Merkx rejected any suggestion he had not performed well in the role, saying he had won SA Unions Delegate of the Year during his time at the hospital site, and that members were satisfied with his performance there.

He said today that if Cartledge had “problems with my performance on there … he should have said so then”.

Cartledge also expressed optimism that with several large developments approved for Adelaide’s CBD, “work’s picking up now in South Australia” and that the union would soon be in a better position to protect workers’ wages and conditions.

Topics: CFMEU
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