Union leader Kevin Reynolds taunts building watchdog
MILITANT construction union boss Kevin Reynolds yesterday taunted the Australian Building and Construction Commission over its “toothless” response to large-scale industrial action, saying it only chased individuals as easy targets.
The powerful West Australian secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union said he doubted the commission would take any action against workers attending a national stoppage next week, because it was “too hard”.
“If they want to try and prosecute 100,000 workers or more around Australia, let them try,” Mr Reynolds said.
“(But) there have been major rallies before and they’ve never come after the individuals or the unions. They had 20,000 in a rally in Melbourne in the not-too-distant past and no one went after them. It’s too difficult.”
Mr Reynolds urged workers to attend the rallies on Tuesday — which will coincide with Victorian CFMEU official Noel Washington appearing in court for refusing to answer questions from the commission.
He denied the stoppage would aggravate the nation’s economic problems and accused his critics of whipping up hysteria.
The CFMEU only took necessary industrial action, he said.
Premier Colin Barnett said Mr Reynolds was jeopardising the economy by creating a perception of industrial unrest that would scare off investors.
“There could not be a worse time than right now for the unions to engage in this bravado,” Mr Barnett said. “Kevin Reynolds is reflecting the worst of Australian industrial relations and he’s going back 30 years.
“The economy is going through a very tough time. The last thing that Western Australia would want to do is create a feeling that there is going to be industrial unrest. That will just drive away investment, drive away orders.”
The state’s peak business group, the West Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also condemned the stoppage and said there was no place for old-style militancy.
WACCI chief economist John Nicolaou said the rally would damage the state’s reputation and it underlined why a powerful construction industry watchdog was needed.
“The ABCC plays an important role in stamping out unlawful and improper behaviour,” Mr Nicolaou said. “The threat of rolling strikes and stoppages sends the wrong message to potential investors and overseas trading partners.”
There had been a reduction of more than 90 per cent in time lost because of industrial disputes on constructions sites since the commission was introduced in 2005, he said.
UnionsWA, which has endorsed the stoppage, denied there would be any extensive disruption. Assistant secretary Simone McGurk said the commission had outrageous powers against individuals.
“You can’t refuse to answer questions, there’s no right to representation and you can be charged if you even tell others you’ve been questioned,” Ms McGurk said.
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