Watch the tense moment when irate union workers clash with a building manager after trying to investigate suspected building site breaches
- CFMEU inspected the Melbourne work site
- Claimed site was unsafe
- Builders would have threatened to call the police
Builders on a supposedly unsafe construction site have been filmed in an ugly confrontation with union officials who came to inspect the construction.
Inspectors from the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) visited a site in Melbourne last week but were immediately met with hostility by the site manager.
The union representatives claimed that the site had no shade or water for workers, that the areas where they excavated were unsafe, that the office on site was a small tin shed that offered no respite from the heat, and that the flood defenses were empty.
In a video filmed by the CFMEU, we see how the union workers confront the construction site manager, who initially denied being the supervisor.
The site manager then threatened to call the police to the union representatives, who happily welcomed the idea.
Inspectors from the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) visited a construction site in Melbourne last week
Tensions escalated further when other builders on the construction site joined the discussion and the union workers repeatedly told them to leave.
“I just had an attempt to forcibly remove my phone,” a female union representative was heard to say as she filmed the construction site.
“Don’t you understand that you must provide your workers with adequate facilities at all times?” she asked, as the site manager told his colleagues not to answer.
The construction workers then repeatedly tell the union and her colleague to ‘get off our site’.
Union workers claimed the site was unsafe, but received a hostile reception from construction workers
“You hinder and obstruct. I’ll wait for WorkSafe to get here. Technically we should be waiting in the building office,’ she replied.
‘Out!’ yelled the worker, only for the union representative to tell him ‘don’t talk to me like that’.
When the CFMEU workers went to wait outside the construction site, the craftsmen put a lock on their fence.
“Apparently we have no reason to be concerned about what is happening at this site that they have now shut down,” the inspector said.
Subsequently, two Victoria police officers were seen at the location.
Footage from the site showed pieces of wood supporting the hoarding – these are the planks that form the boundary of the site.
A contractor repeatedly told the union representatives to leave the site
Another long, metal support was seen leaning against a wall with rocks covering its base.
The CFMEU also criticized the office on the ground.
“Imagine being heat exhausted and being put in a tin hut with the sun shining down on you,” the rep said.
After sharing footage from the site on their Facebook page, the union said standards were “beyond appalling.”
“How can they expect their employees to deal with these circumstances?” read the message.
“(The construction company) should be ashamed of the way our CFMEU organizers were treated before they were allowed entry.
“We’re here to protect employees so they go home safely to their families at the end of the day.”
The CFMEU and the construction company have been contacted for comment.