Issue 51 December 2010 - cfmeu

NITY
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE CONSTRUCTION FORESTRY MINING & ENERGY UNION (CONSTRUCTION & GENERAL DIVISION) NSW BRANCH DECEMBER 2010
SUMMER ISSUE 2010
GENERATION CHANGE
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UNITY 2
TEXT TAYLOR & SCOTT
FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHTS OF CFMEU MEMBERS FOR 60 YEARS
TAYLOR & SCOTTLAWYERS
NO PLACE
FOR CYBER
BULLYING
ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY has
most likely grown up in a home that had a computer.
The internet, bulletin boards and social media
are technological structures that appeared as these
young people made their way through school.
For the young of today, as Mark Zuckerberg,
the founder of Facebook would have it, absolutely
everything they do goes online and stays online, and,
because of this our lawmakers need to make sure that
protections provided by the law follow them online
too.
Bullying has always been a problem in schools
and workplaces, but it is now also appearing on the
internet, with suicides a rare but tragic result. In New
South Wales two years ago, a 14-year-old Lismore boy,
Alex Wildman, was beaten and bullied and then took
his own life.
This event was horrible enough, but, in this
election year, legislation designed to combat cyberbullying
(according to the coroner this was a probable
reason behind Alex’s suicide) is waiting to be re-introduced
to the Federal Parliament.
One of the most horrifying aspects of the assault
on Alex was that it was filmed only days before he
died and nasty comments about him were sent
among other students as texts and loaded online.
The legislation that will deal with cyber-bullying
was introduced to the House of Representatives on
June 24, but as no vote was taken and then an election
was called, it must be re-introduced. The danger is it
may be held up indefinitely.
The legislation is much needed to tackle online
bullying and makes it unlawful for students to harass
or intimidate other students under the age of 16
from their own and other schools. Previously the law
protected only students over the age of 16 from the
same school.
Of course, real-world bullying has been around
in schools and workplaces for some time. Just about
any institution you care to think of where human
Our team of experienced lawyers is readily
available to provide legal advice at discounted
rates to all CFMEU members and their families.
Whether you need advice on compensation, conveyancing,
family law, wills/estates or criminal
matters, we are always here to help you. Our
offices are conveniently located in the City and
at Lidcombe, Wollongong and Newcastle.
CYBER STRATEGIES
Lachlan Riches
beings gather for a common purpose is subject to
a hierarchy, and that formation is – and always will
be – susceptible to acts of intimidation, harassment
and unfair dealing by those who seek dominance at
all costs.
Nevertheless, there are some who would like to
change all that.
Dr Ken Rigby has been studying school bullying
since the early 1980s, and, at the University of South
Australia, with associate professor Bruce Johnson, he
surveyed primary and secondary students from metropolitan
schools and found that physical sexual harassment
at high schools was witnessed by almost 40
per cent of students every week. In a separate piece
of research, Rigby also found that 92 per cent of the
primary school students and 97 per cent of the
secondary students indicated that they had observed
verbal bullying taking place at least once.
Dr Rigby calls this ‘’the bystander effect’’ and he
has cleverly focused on the idea that bullies need an
audience and look for notoriety as a motive to acts
they commit. And the internet, where a YouTube
video of an incident appears instantly, allows for the
widest audience possible.
The Sex Discrimination Act already contains
a provision that deals with participants in an act
of sexual harassment such that, ‘’a person who
causes, instructs, induces, aids or permits another
person to do an act that is unlawful under [sections
Level 2,
Robell House
287 Elizabeth Street
Sydney NSW 2000
T: (02) 9265 2500
F: (02) 9265 2555
FREECALL 1800 600 664
Ground floor
1 Lowden Square
Wollongong
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T: (02) 4227 2344
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CALL 1300 4 COMPO (1300 426 676)
EXPERIENCE YOU WANT ON YOUR SIDE
ON YOUR SIDE
Taylor & Scott Lawyers have been fighting
for the rights of CFMEU members for more
than 60 years, getting members the compensation
they deserve. Its team of experienced
lawyers is readily available to provide
legal advice to all CFMEU members
and their families who have been injured in
the workplace and can contacted on 1300
426 676. Their offices are conveniently
located in the City, Lidcombe, Wollongong,
Newcastle, with solicitors also travelling to
regional areas such as Bathurst, Orange,
Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.
of the Act, shall] be taken also to have done the act’’.
This provision goes much further than most in drawing
in others for civil offences. Although it remains
untested, at this stage, in a case of cyber bullying it
would apply equally to the workplace as it would a
school environment.
In this way, if a student received a video or material
that was used to harass another student – and knew
it to be so – and had the capacity to stop it, but instead,
joined in by passing the material on, that student,
also, might be brought into legal action, along with
the perpetrator, by the harassed student.
This part of the Act is very similar to a strategy of
prevention devised by Dr Rigby, who suggests that
teachers would be unlikely to influence students to
intervene in an episode of bullying by simply telling
them to do so. A more indirect approach, he suggests,
would be to help students develop sympathetic
attitudes towards children repeatedly victimised.
The internet increases audience reach and allows
many others to participate in an act of bullying. The
bullying further intensifies feelings of powerlessness
in students to such a destructive extent that they will
either want to take revenge (The Columbine High
School massacre is an example of this) or as Alex
Wildman chose to, take their own lives.
Lachlan Riches is a senior partner with union
lawyers Taylor & Scott
Level 2,
CFMEU Building
12 Railway Street
Lidcombe NSW 2141
T: (02) 8737 4500
F: (02) 8737 4555
FREECALL 1800 600 664
Suite 1
Tonella Commercial Centre
Cnr Bull & Ravenshaw Street
Newcastle NSW 2300
T: (02) 4929 6777
F: (02) 4926 5109
FREECALL 1800 880 777

EDITORIAL
IT’S BEEN AN
HONOUR
I WRITE TO ADVISE THAT I HAVE RESIGNED
as Secretary of the union after 30 years’ service to
the construction union.
I commenced work as a union organiser in
1980 and have had the opportunity to represent
many members. I have enjoyed my work fighting
for unpaid and injured workers and campaigning
for their rights. During these three decades, I
have seen many governments seek to deregister
and destroy the union. However with rank and file
support, we have defeated these attacks and have
survived.
I will be a candidate for the Australian Labor
Party (ALP) at the state elections to be held Saturday
March 26 next year. I will be running to be a member
of the NSW Legislative Council (the Upper House of
the NSW Parliament).
I want to make the ALP a better party for working
people. If you are eligible to vote in NSW or can enrol
to vote, I seek your support and vote to achieve this
goal. A Liberal government in NSW will only weaken
workers’ rights at a time when the union is rebuilding.
I thank you for your past and ongoing support.
I am confident the new union Secretary, Mal
Tulloch and the new leadership team, elected by the
Committee of Management of the union, with your
support, will continue to fight for the rights of building
workers.
I wish you and the union every success in the
future.
ENJOY THE FESTIVE SEASON
IT’S BEEN A HECTIC YEAR FOR UNITY, but the frightening prospect of prime minister
Tony Abbott takes the cake as the most alarming story of the year. We will be back early in
2011 in time to give you the lowdown on policies from a building workers’ perspective for
the March 26 State election. Keep those contributions coming and stay safe and happy
over the festive season.
FEEDBACK
This is your journal and the CFMEU encourages you to have your say. We welcome your contribution –
letters, stories about wage claims, disputes, OHS, site conditions, poems, photos etc. Mark for the
attention of Dani Cooper: Unity File, Locked Bag 1, Lidcombe NSW 1825
tel 02 9749 0400 fax 02 9649 5255 cooperdani@bigpond.com
DISCLAIMER: Advertising by a company in Unity does not in any way constitute
endorsement by the CFMEU of the practices of any employer/company.
CONTENTS
DECEMBER 2010
ISSUE 51
YOUR UNION 4-7
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY 8
ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS 9
APPRENTICES 10
REGIONS 11
OHS 12-13
MIGRANT WORKERS 14
LEGAL 15
SUPERANNUATION 16
CAMPAIGNS 17-19
THE ESSAY 20-21
COMMUNITY 22
AWARDS 23-286
MULTILINGUAL 27-29
WORLD 35
INTERNATIONAL ACTION 36
LETTERS 37
YOUR HEALTH 38
DRUGS & ALCOHOL 39
PROFILE 40
Writing, editing and photography
BLEEDIN’ HEART MEDIA
AND MALCOLM TULLOCH
Design
RODNEY LOCHNER 0414 716 306
Cover photo
JAMES ALCOCK
Printing and distribution
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Advertising
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UNITY 4
YOUR UNION
COUNTER
POINT
WITH SYDNEY COUNTER ORGANISER
MARK CUNNINGHAM
DEATH & PAPERWORK
The recent sudden deaths of three building
workers has highlighted the need for
CFMEU members to ensure their paperwork
is up to date.
I had three calls to the Sydney Counter
in just one week from family members, who
were in obvious distress, trying to find out
what funds their loved one had joined.
Members need to talk to their partners,
wives, husbands or children and let them
know just what accounts they have and
where information for them is located.
When a death is sudden it is hard
enough to deal with the shock, let alone be
struggling with paperwork. Many members
are not aware of what funds they are in.
However most members would have CBUS
(superannuation) membership, which
includes a significant death benefit, and
also be registered with the Long Service
Payment Corporation.
Also if members are covered by a unionnegotiated
enterprise agreement they
maybe covered for U-Plus (top-up insurance),
which pays death benefit as long as
an employer has paid the insurance at the
time of death. Members may also belong
to ACIRT, the redundancy fund. If a worker
is in ACIRT and dies within six months of
a contribution being made, the family can
claim a funeral benefit of $6500.
In one case recently the member who
died had 19 years of long service leave
accrued, which is equal to about 16 weeks’
pay the family can claim.
If members want to sort out their
paperwork, they should contact the union
with their membership number and we can
direct them to the right places.
All financial members are also entitled
to have a simple will drawn up by union
lawyers Taylor & Scott without charge. If a
person dies without a will it can cause all
sorts of extra difficulties for the family.
It is important, in the event of a sudden
death, that you don’t leave your family
with a financial mess to sort out, and
importantly have them miss out on your
hard-earned entitlements just because they
don’t know where to go.
Also remember if a worker dies because
of a work-related injury the family also has
workers’ compensation rights. They should
contact the union.
FRESH NEW LOOK
Kylie Price in the new reception area ahead of its opening by Unions NSW boss Mark Lennon, right
RED RIBBON DAY
UNIONS NSW SECRETARY MARK LENNON
has helped heal the scars of the May car bomb
attack on the CFMEU with a red-ribbon opening
of the union’s new reception. The foyer
of the CFMEU’s Lidcombe headquarters was
destroyed and more than $1 million damage
done in the attack about 10.30pm on May 13.
Incoming State Secretary Mal Tulloch says
the reopening was a tribute to the union’s staff
and officers who had worked tirelessly to keep
the Lidcombe office functioning.
“The staff and officers of the CFMEU have
worked with grace under quite difficult conditions
while the offices have been rebuilt,” he says.
“The cowardly perpetrators of this attack
hoped to put us out of business, but the failed.
POLICE BELIEVE THEY HAVE MADE a
breakthrough in their investigation of the
attack on the CFMEU’s Lidcombe office with a
possible link to four other fires.
Police have asked for anyone with information
about a black, four-wheel-drive that was
seen near the CFMEU office shortly before the
attack at 10.30pm on May 13, to come forward.
Police are investigating reports the black
four-wheel-drive was seen in East Street,
Lidcombe with the red Mazda 626 sedan,
which was ramraided through the CFMEU
“Thanks to the determination and commitment
of our officers and staff there has
not been one day of work lost and the union
has not stepped back from its commitment to
ensure all building workers, whether they are
temporary visa holders or from a non-Englishspeaking
background, receive the entitlements
they deserve.”
CFMEU receptionist Susana is delighted by
the new-look foyer and the flowers that have
been adorning her desk since the opening ceremony
on October 15: “It’s lovely.”
And as a special incentive for members to
visit the office, as part of the refurbishment the
union’s historical collection is now on display
in the foyer.
FIRE LINKED TO OTHER ARSON ATTACKS
office front door, just before the attack.
Police are also investigating a link to four
other fires that were similar in nature.
Two of the other blazes occurred at business
premises on Seville Street, Fairfield in
February 2006 and March 2009.
The other cases involve a fire at a construction
site in Bellevue Hill in May 2009 and
another fire attempt on a building in Railway
Street, Lidcombe on June 4, 2009.
Anyone with information should contact
Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

YOUR UNION
MAL TULLOCH HAS HIT THE GROUND running
as the new State Secretary with his campaign
to highlight the number of cancer cases
among Sydney Harbour Bridge workers gaining
international headlines.
Tulloch took over from outgoing secretary
Andrew Ferguson on Labour Day, October 4,
with former city-based Organiser Rebel Hanlon
stepping into the role of Assistant State
Secretary.
The pair has made labour history as the first
indigenous team to head the CFMEU, stretching
back to when it was known as the Building
Workers Industrial Union.
The CFMEU believes Tulloch is also the first
Indigenous man elected to run an Australian
trade union. Tulloch was elected in August by
the CFMEU Committee of Management, with
the decision endorsed by the union’s delegates
meeting and the officers of the union.
He joins continuing CFMEU President
Peter McClelland and Assistant Secretary Brian
Parker and Hanlon in the executive. Brian
Fitzpatrick remains in his role of Industrial
Co-ordinator. Outgoing Secretary, Ferguson,
who has led the union since 1994, said
Tulloch’s appointment signalled a generational
change at the union.
“The endorsement by our delegates shows
the respect Mal has among the rank and file
and it is a reflection of the hard work and success
he has achieved in improving conditions
for building workers in NSW.”
TRADING PLACES
Mal Tulloch has stepped into the union’s top job and is the first indigenous man to hold the position
HISTORIC CHANGE
Tulloch, 48, has been a unionist all his
working life and has often found himself in the
thick of industrial battles.
After completing his apprenticeship he
joined the then Telecom, and ended up an
Organiser with the Communications Services
Union just as Peter Reith and John Howard
took power.
While the Liberals were bringing dogs
onto the waterfront they were also privatising
‘YOU CHANGE THOSE
THINGS THAT WILL MAKE
LIFE BETTER FOR
WORKERS AND THEIR
FAMILIES AND CHILDREN’
Telecom and outsourcing its building works.
By the time Tulloch left Telstra to join the
CFMEU, the battle for workers’ rights within
the now privatised business had been lost. His
arrival at the CFMEU coincided with Howard’s
attention turning to the destruction of the construction
union and Tulloch played a central
role in defending workers on two fronts.
Aside from his union work, Tulloch became
Holroyd Mayor in 2002 and used the position
where possible to block Howard’s attacks on
working conditions. By the end of his term,
Holroyd had the toughest asbestos demolition
controls in NSW, compliance with shutdown
weekends was integral to development approvals
and the council was the first to sign a deal
with Unions NSW to employ only contractors
who had good relations and working conditions
with workers.
Tulloch’s passion for improving workers’
lives is an integral part of the man.
“A lot of my upbringing was with workingclass
people and that has had a profound influence
on what I believe,” he told Unity recently.
“There’s a lot of injustices and hardships
people have to endure in their daily lives. Some
things you can change, some things you can
influence. So you change those things that will
make life better for workers and their families
and children.”
Recently remarried, he is also strongly committed
to Indigenous issues and has been on
the front line attacking the Northern Territory
intervention. Tulloch says although the Liberals
are no longer in power, the union has much
work to do in regaining ground lost during the
Howard years.
“I know a lot of members would like site
allowances to be restored and that is something
I am committed to fighting for,” he says.
And while he is comfortable with moving
into the union’s hottest seat, Tulloch has
another passion that should provide the
perfect way to cool down – surfing.
UNITY 5

UNITY 6
TEXT YOUR UNION
ERGUSON
ALLS TIME
SECURING A JOB with the then Building Workers
Industrial Union was no great achievement on his
part, says outgoing State Secretary Andrew Ferguson.
Thirty years after the event, he now admits there
were just three applicants for the three positions.
However, his “success” in getting the job,
launched a 30-year career with the construction
union that came to an end on October 4, when
Ferguson retired as CFMEU NSW State Secretary.
At a gala farewell on October 21, attended by
‘I’VE SEEN THE UNION
MAKE A DIFFERENCE’
more than 1000 people including friends, family,
politicians, builders, unionists, workers and activists,
Ferguson said he had enjoyed every day working
for the union.
He also paid tribute to the officers, organisers
and rank and file of the union, stating his work had
only been possible because of their commitment.
“My victories, were their victories,” he said.
The arrival of Ferguson at the BWIU was an
experiment, with the union never before taking on a
young university graduate. Ferguson’s concern over
the lack of dirt on his hands saw him sent off by then
secretary Stan Sharkey to work on a building site.
However it was a short-lived career labouring as by
the end of the shift he had filed his first wage claim
for a fellow worker.
Ferguson says regards it a privilege to have represented
workers.
“I have been involved in many disputes and campaigns
that resulted in justice for an injured or underpaid
worker or the family of a worker that was killed.
“I’ve seen the union make a difference and
know that without the union on building sites
abuse and mistreatment of workers would be more
widespread. I’ve worked as part of a team and our
ability to represent workers is a product of the collective
efforts of many. During my time as secretary
I’ve been fortunate to have the support of a united
leadership and wish the new team all the best in the
future.”
Ferguson is retiring to nominate as an ALP candidate
in the NSW Legislative Council (the upper
house) at the State elections on March 26.
He says if successful he intends to make a difference
and continue his work representing the interests
of workers.
TAYLOR & SCOTT TO
OPENS IN MT DRUITT
The Mt Druitt Workers’ Club Board has agreed
to Taylor & Scott opening an office at the club.
CFMEU lawyers have been established for
more than 100 years with a proud tradition of
assisting working families. Initially compensation
lawyer wll be in attendance at the club
from 1pm-6pm each Thursday. For appointments
please ring Samantha on 87374500.
CFMEU members and Mt Druitt club members
will be able to obtain legal assistance at
discounted rates in the following:
• Compensation claims (free for members)
• Motor accident claims
• Conveyancing
• Migration law
• Family law
• Powers of attorney
• Criminal law.
A special free simple Will service is also available
for union and club members and their
spouses. More complex Wills receive a 25%
discount rate.

TEXT YOUR UNION
MEMBERS MAY HAVE READ NEWSPAPER
ARTICLES, or seen on television, allegations
made in a court case that has been brought
against the Union and Multiplex.
The court case is currently before the
Supreme Court of New South Wales, so the
Union must be careful about what it says about
the case at this time.
Under law, you are not allowed to comment
publicly if you are involved in court proceedings.
However allegations made, even if they are false
and malicious, can be repeated in the media and
you cannot respond.
However, it is important that members are
kept up to date with the matter and the Union is
concerned that some of the media coverage has
been one-sided and sensational.
Members should be assured that the Union
will defend itself, its officials and their good
name against the allegations made in this case
when it gets an opportunity to present its evidence
to the Court. The case involves circumstances
that are claimed to have occurred 14
years ago involving a building site in Sydney.
It is alleged that the Union entered into a con-
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spiracy with Multiplex against a company called
Stoneglow.
Some of the allegations have been made by
a former official of the Union, Craig Bates, who
resigned in 2000 following charges being laid
by the Union against him and a report being
provided by the Union to the NSW Police about
his activities.
The Union absolutely denies that such a conspiracy
was entered into with Multiplex, as does
Multiplex deny any such conspiracy with the
Union existed.
The Union strongly maintains that the allegations
against it are wholly untrue. We are
confident our evidence will show this, the good
reputation of the Union will be upheld and that
the Union’s position vindicated.
The Union will update members further on
any developments, as and when, we are able to,
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subject to the restrictions imposed by law.
We trust that members understand the limitations
that are currently placed upon the Union
to further comment on this case.
Disturbingly, the Liberal Party has raised
the issue in the Australian Senate and twice
in the NSW Parliament to slander the Union
and undermine the nomination of our former
Union Secretary, Andrew Ferguson, who will be
an ALP candidate in the March 2011 state elections.
We know that we have your support as
members in the Union’s efforts to defend itself
against this legal action.
We promise you that we are not distracted by
this action and we are getting on with the business
of representing our members and continuing
to fight for decent wages, conditions and better
safety on the job.
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UNIOWEAR

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
DYING
FOR A
DRINK
UNITY 8
CFMEU Senior Legal Officer Rita Mallia
joined a delegation to Colombia in July
and realised that activism in the workplace
is a matter of life and death in the
South American country.
In July this year, I was privileged to be asked to
be a part of a delegation to Colombia as a guest of
Sinaltrainal, the union that covers employees of
multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola and
Nestle. I went on behalf of the CFMEU. During
the two weeks, we lived in the union’s office except
when we travelled outside Bogota for three days,
and witnessed firsthand the many challenges facing
the Colombian people.
ABOUT COLOMBIA
Colombia is a country of 44 million, where
63.3 per cent of the population live in poverty.
The unemployment rate is about 12 per cent.
More than 9 million – or one-fifth of the population
– are excluded from social services such as
the pension and health care. About 4.5 million
people have been displaced from their homes
by big landowners, drug traffickers and paramilitaries.
There are 7500 political prisoners
and in the past three years, 38,255 people have
disappeared.
WHAT WE SAW
One of the focuses of the delegation was to learn
about, and lend our support to, Sinaltrainal and
other trade unions, such as the mining union,
Sintracarbon, in their campaigns against multinational
corporations and their abuse of trade unions
and workers.
Many union representatives and leaders have
been murdered in Colombia. The union movement
estimates that since 1986 up to 4000 union
members have been killed. Sinaltrainal has had
22 of its members killed between 1986 and
2007. Only one of these cases has resulted in a
prosecution and conviction. Seven murders have
occurred this year. In 2009 there were 47 trade
unionists murdered, 18 attempted murders,
412 death threats, 129 forced displacements, 53
cases of harassment and persecution, 34 arbitrary
arrests, 3 disappearances and 4 illegal home invasions.
The level of violence and harassment has
taken its toll on unionism in Colombia with just
4 per cent of the employer workforce unionised.
However, Colombian workers need the
unions because labour standards and work
conditions are difficult. Sinaltrainal is trying to
JOIN THE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT
CFMEU senior legal officer Rita Mallia also paid a humanitarian visit to jailed union activist
Liliany Obando. Obando, of the Federation of United National Agricultural Workers Union
(Fensuagro), has been jailed for the past two years on charges of “rebellion against the state”.
Obando toured Australia twice in recent years and spoke with many groups about the Uribe
government’s abuses of human rights and the struggle for justice in Colombia.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Be part of campaigns to expose these injustices and build international solidarity around these
issues. In the Obando campaign send letters calling for her release to the Colombian president
Alvaro Uribe at auribe@presidencia.gov.co and to the Colombian Australian embassy at
embassyofcolombia@bigpond.com
Write to your local MP to raise awareness of her plight and ask for a private member’s bill to
be raised in Federal Parliament.
Stay informed at www.freeliliany.net and http://colombiasolidarity.net
launch a campaign against multinationals like
Coca Cola, Nestle, Kraft and others to highlight
these repressive conditions and the delegation
joined a protest against Coca-Cola in Bogota.
BHP-EL MINA CERREJON
We visited the Cerrejon mine – 33 per cent owned
by BHP Billiton – the world’s largest open-cut
coalmine in the north of Colombia, near Rioacha.
Here the mineworkers we met described harsh
conditions including:
• Dirty, dusty work and no dust suppression
• Long hours - one worker I spoke to said he
travelled five hours and worked 12 hours per
day. If he is late, he gets docked.
• Dangerous conditions – one week after our visit
four workers were killed at the mine.
• Many workers suffering injuries and illnesses
such as respiratory diseases and lead poisoning.
• Increased use of labour hire and subcontracting
resulting in job insecurity.
• Low wages and conditions. Most workers are on
the minimum wage of about $250/month gross.
From this they pay tax, rent, travel expenses,
medical insurance and superannuation.
• Workers complained of hiring and firing at
will by employers.
• There are many environmental problems -
waterways are polluted, soil is toxic, and the air
is contaminated.
Many employees of subcontractors lived in the
nearby town of Albania, which has about 23,000
residents. The town is located behind the cola tailings
pile resulting in dust blowing over the town
causing respiratory diseases. We saw the area
where subcontractor employees lived in one room
per family with only one bathroom for 100 people.
We visited the local hospital, which had no capacity
to do surgery and very limited medical supplies.
We also met a leader of the indigenous Wayuu
people. Cerrejon mine stands on their land. As
well as their concern for the environment, the
leader told us of his divided community and the
struggle for a better deal and concerns over contamination
of land where they will be re-housed.
Further south, we spent a day with mining
workers at the La Jagua mine, who had been on
strike for 32 days over a new agreement. A week
later, the dispute was resolved with improved
conditions.
Closer to Bogota we met flower industry
workers. The conditions are harsh including
long hours of standing, illness caused by toxic
chemicals, ever increasing out-sourcing and subcontracting.
The average salary was $200/month
gross. We met workers on a picket line who had
been sacked with pay still owed to them.
Sinaltrainal and others are trying to build
social movements that go beyond trade unions
that support and represent political prisoners,
lawyers groups and the victims and families of
those assassinated, displaced or disappeared.

TEXT ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS
SOLIDARITY
DELIVERS IN EA DISPUTE
CFMEU MEMBERS IN NORTHERN NSW
have had a massive win by showing they were
prepared to accept short-term pain in return for
long-term gain. McMahons workers have now
signed an enterprise agreement that is close to
the best in the state, says CFMEU Northern NSW
Organiser Jim Hutcheon. He says the workers
were covered by a national agreement that was
established on a project in Western Australia that
fell way below CFMEU NSW standards.
“The agreement had 12 months to run and the
company knew we couldn’t take protected action
so it decided to start negotiations thinking the boys
would take what was offered,” he says.
However the offer was only slightly better than
what they were already getting. “There was a critical
mass of union members on the job and that really
helped,” says Hutcheon.
“It ended up that pretty much all the workers at
McMahons were in a union, which is something
we never get up here and it made all the difference.
“We had a good union delegate and when we
took it [the offer] to the boys, they said they were
UNITED
WORKERS
SAVOUR
SWEET
VICTORY
IT’S THE CRY OF UNIONISTS WORLDWIDE:
‘The Workers United will never be Defeated’, and
the blokes at Sherrin Hire have proven it true.
After an 18-month battle they have won their
fight for better conditions and the right to work
under a union enterprise agreement (EA).
Delegate Tom Karalimanis says the long
fight was caused by a boss determined to crush
the union and cut back conditions workers had
under the previous EA.
With the support of Organiser Mark Sutcliffe,
the workers dug in for the 18-month fight, using
smart tactics to eventually win the day. Sutcliffe says the solidarity of the
workers was critical in winning the fight.
They took protected action on three days and when their previous delegate
was sacked, they stood their ground rather than surrender.
“If we’d gone out it would have caused a lot of problems so we took
the union road and we won,” he says.
Karalimanis says the union was critical in the fight, and was ready to
provide resources and advice whenever it was required.
SHORT-TERM PAIN
The McMahons team give their new enterprise agreement the thumbs-up
happy to wait the 12 months until the agreement
expired and they could take protected action.”
Hutcheon says the company was thrown by the
workers’ solidarity. “They were forced to do a double
take and we had them where we wanted them,” he
WE WILL OVERCOME
Sherrin Hire lads with Leah Charlson, Peter McClelland and Mark Sutcliffe
says. Hutcheon says one of the issues was that the
company’s redundancy scheme was not portable.
Under the latest enterprise agreement workers
can take that money with them when they leave the
company.
“We got everything we asked for [in the EA]. We signed the new agreement
and we now have a new boss.”
Karalimanis says the 35-odd workers received strong solidarity from
their interstate colleagues who also work for Sherrin Hire.
He says the victory contains a strong message for other workplaces
dealing with difficult bosses.
“If you stay united you pretty much get the message across, [but] if
you get stragglers then you’ll get nothing.”
UNITY 9

UNITY 10
APPRENTICES
UNION
FINDS
LOST
YEARS
TWO APPRENTICES ARE MORE THAN
$10,000 each better off and will become tradesmen
15 months earlier thanks to the intervention
of the union. Tom Sutherland and Rowan
Sanders each completed a one-year pre-apprenticeship
course at Wollongong TAFE in 2008 and
were signed up with Wideform in early 2009.
However according to Apprentices Organiser
Charishma Kaliyanda at this point a mistake was
made with the apprenticeship centre failing to take
into account their pre-apprenticeship course.
Under the NSW State Award, apprentices
completing a one-year pre-apprenticeship course
are entitled to start as a second-year apprentice,
and then nine months later progress to being a
third-year apprentice.
This effectively cuts an apprenticeship back
from 48 to 33 months.
According to Rowan, he only became aware of
the problem when Wideform went into liquidation
late last year and the CFMEU stepped in to
ensure workers received their entitlements.
A START IN
THE TRADE
The CFMEU is concerned about the lack of
apprenticeship training and is assisting to
turn around shortages in the industry by
helping young people get a start in a trade.
The union will assist in training 30
young people in the trades with young
union members working as builder’s
labourers encouraged to apply.
This is also a great opportunity for the
children of CFMEU members who might
want to follow in their parents’ footsteps.
There will be 10 positions offered in each
of: wall and floor tiling; painting and
gyprocking.
If you are interested, or have family
interested, in taking up the offer send
your resume to Elizabeth Rivera at BWAC
Australian Apprenticeship Centre.
For more information contact Elizabeth
on 9749 9488 or email field@bwacaac.
org.au
RALLY ROUND THE DRUM
The CFMEU, Unions NSW and the AMWU joined forces at a rally last month in front
of the South Korean Consulate General’s Office in Sydney, in solidarity for the Korean
Confederation of Trade Unions to coincide with the G20 Summit held in Seoul
“I discovered that they’d been put on from the
start at the inappropriate rate and this affected the
credit they had on their apprenticeships as well,”
says Kaliyanda.
“So after many meetings, calculations and letters
the end result was very satisfactory: Tom got
about $13,500 and Rowan about $12,500 (gross).”
Better still got the outstanding credits added to
their apprenticeship, so the two apprentices will
become tradesmen 15 months earlier.
Rowan, who has been part of the union since
he started work, says he was very happy with the
payment and more importantly that he would
become a qualified carpenter much earlier.
The 18-year-old thinks other apprentices
could be losing out as well with the difference in
his pay packet after the union sorted out his problem
more than $130 a week.
BRIEFS
MENTORING
Getting a kick start in your career
BWAC is being funded by the Federal
Government to look at whether mentoring
apprentices can lower the drop-out rate for
apprentices during their apprenticeship.
They have launched a pilot mentoring program,
specifically aimed at apprentices aged
15-19 (Kickstart Australian Apprentices) and are
looking for experienced people from the industry
to act as mentors.
THE CRITERIA FOR MENTORS INCLUDES:
• Must have up to four face-to-face visits with
the apprentice by 30 June 2011. There will
be some monetary compensation for these
visits.
• They will need to write a report following
each visit.
• Complete a little bit of paperwork.
If you are interested in participating in the pro-
“I didn’t know I was entitled to get secondyear
wages because it was my first year on job, so I
just thought I should be getting first-year wages,”
he says.“I never knew I was entitled to that money
until a union delegate told me.”
Also importantly for the guys is that
Wideform is back on its feet and they are guaranteed
work until the end of their apprenticeship.
Rowan is now enjoying his apprenticeship
although he admits it is “pretty hard work”. And he
says with the liquidation and wage claim it has been
a tumultuous start to his working life. “It’s certainly
been a bit weird but it is great that Wideform has
come back.”
Apprentices who want to check they are being
paid correctly and have had the right credit for any
previous experience should contact Apprentices
Organiser Charishma Kaliyanda on 9749 0400.
gram, please contact CFMEU Apprenticeship
Officer Charishma Kaliyanda on 9749 0400 for
more information.
BUILDER NAILED FOR
UNDERPAYING APPRENTICE
A builder in Baulkham Hills has been fined for
underpaying an apprentice carpenter wages, a
tool allowance and overtime entitlements.
He was also charged with failing to pay pro
rata holiday leave and failing to produce the
records requested by the workplace inspector.
The employer, who failed to appear in
Chief Industrial Magistrate’s Court court, was
ordered to pay back $5438.42 to the apprentice,
as well as civil penalties of $4500, convictions
and fines of $4600 and professional costs of
$750.
If you believe you are being underpaid or
missing out on entitlements contact the union
on 9749 0400.

REGION
WE HEAR YOU
When Assistant State Secretary Rebel Hanlon took Cbus and Taylor & Scott on a site visit to Downer EDI workers at the Mangoola Coal Project they met a
happy group of members. The more than 200 workers building the infrastructure for the coal mine are on excellent conditions under a union-negotiated
EA. Because of their remote location however, the union is delivering services to them with the hearing bus due to visit early next year.
ON THE ROAD
members receive their legal entitlements.
subcontactors. Wollongong-based Organisers
Mick Lane and Dave Kelly and Hanlon started the
OH&S foundations for the sites by helping establish
a Safety Committee, which is a legal requirement
under the NSW OHS laws. We also talked
to workers about the role of delegates on sites.
CFMEU ASSISTANT STATE SECRETARY
REBEL HANLON, Taylor & Scott and regional
organisers in Newcastle and Wollongong have
been travelling to various job sites, mapping
out sectors, conducting mass meetings and promoting
member services in an effort to raise the
union’s profile in regional areas.
And the road trips have paid off…
NEWCASTLE
Our trip starts in union heartland and the
steel city with visits to the football stadium,
Charlestown, Cessnock Prison and the coal loaders
to investigate complaints about a number
of employers being behind in their ACIRT and
Cbus payments.
Accompanied by Rod Jarman (Cbus) and Ivan
Simic (Taylor & Scott) we head to our first site to
find a concreter who has been underpaid ACIRT
for the past 14 months, a form worker underpaid
Living Away from Home Allowance and
no CBUS. By the end of the first morning of the
safety campaign, we have also booked in 10 workers
for hearing tests.
It soon becomes apparent that this will be a
trend over the next few days when we head to the
next site and find that the scaffolder has not paid
CBUS or ACRIT for six months.
The result was scaffolding sector Organiser
Darren Greenfield was sent to the Newcastle area
in early November to follow up on complaints
of underpayment and non-payment to ensure
DORA CREEK
An after-hours work meeting was held for
approximately 15 workers employed as machine
operators on a power station. The boys are concerned
they have not received their legal entitlements.
As a collective they have come together
to stand as a united force to have their issues
addressed. It is great to see a group of workers
so obviously proud to be union and seeking legal
advice from the union over their problems. Taylor
& Scott also provided valuable information about
workers’ entitlements and rights.
GOULBURN
The union investigated OH&S complaints at a
construction site where approximately 85 wind
turbines are being built. The site will eventually
employ up to 100 workers.
Suspected OH&S breaches were also investigated
during a site visit to the Woolworths job
in the centre of Goulburn. As suspected there
were problems with the site. The union is working
with the builder to establish better safety
standards.
WOLLONGONG
Construction work at WIN Stadium and
Shellharbour Shopping Centre, has only just
started, but the CFMEU is on the ball entering
into negotiations for audit and compliance of
Through these regional trips, the union wants to
raise awareness among union members of their
correct entitlements and safety on site. It is also
an opportunity to promote member services such
as Cbus, ACIRT, workers compensation and legal
representation/advice from Taylor & Scott.
The union is committed to overcoming the
tyranny of distance and providing comprehensive
services and support to our members in the
regional areas.
For our members in the Port Macquarie area,
the union was due to be visiting sites in the area
in late November.
NEWCASTLE MOVE
Our Newcastle office has relocated and is
now at Suite 5, 451 Hunter St, Newcastle.
The Organisers in the area are Peter Harris,
Pomare Auimatagi The phone number
remains the same and is 49262188.
UNITY 11

UNITY 12
OHS
WORKMATES WANT BRIDGE HONOUR FOR DAVE
THE CFMEU IS CAMPAIGNING to have the life of Wagga Wagga worker
David Pulver honoured. Pulver was killed while working on the Hume
Highway upgrade in July. CFMEU Area Organiser Dave Kelly, says the
unions and workmates are campaigning to have one of the bridges being
built in the upgrade named the David Pulver Memorial Bridge.
A letter has been written to Roads Minister David Borger with the
request. Pulver, a married father of Lewis, 5, and Lilly, 3, was crushed to
death between a 17-tonne loader and a fuel truck while working on the
Hume highway building project near Tarcutta.
His name was recently unveiled on the Wall of Remembrance at the
CFMEU headquarters in Lidcombe. The ceremony took place in the presence
of his father David Pulver, mother Deanna Rutter and sister Liza Baker
along with representatives of his employer Leighton’s Contractors. “His
FIRST-AID IS A RIGHT IN BRIEF
CFMEU MEMBERS HAVE BEEN
WARNED not to allow employers to
palm them off to a local GP or the company
doctor if they receive an injury at
work. CFMEU Safety Co-ordinator
Rick Rech says there is an alarming
growth in the number of cases where
workers are injured and not being
offered any treatment or sent off to a
local GP. He says workers have the
right to choose their own doctor.
“Bosses don’t want to call an
ambulance and prefer to keep it quiet
by taking workers to the hospital themselves
and then getting Medicare to
cover any costs.”
However he says whenever a worker
is knocked unconscious an ambulance
should be called and under legislation
it is mandatory that WorkCover be notified.
His comments follow a Victorian
case where a worker who hit his head
was not given any first-aid and later
died. The Melbourne magistrate
Andrew Capell described the failure of
the company to seek first aid for the
worker as “outrageous”.
Metal products manufacturer
Pressfast Industries Pty Ltd was convicted
and fined last week after a 2008
incident where a worker fell over and
hit his head on concrete after being
struck by a forklift.
The 60-year-old man was later
found unconscious at work and died
in hospital two days later.
There was no qualified first aider
on site, and the company failed to call
an ambulance or seek first aid for the
worker. The only staff member with
first aid training was certified in 1984,
and was not alerted until it was too
late. It is mandatory to provide first
aid on the job.
If there is a problem at your site
contact the CFMEU on 9749 0400.
WALL OF SORROW
Liza Baker looks at the spot where her brother David Pulver has been memorialised
young children will never see their father, but through this Wall and further
memorials, they may one day be able to see that their father meant something
and made a contribution to this country,” Kelly said at the ceremony.
Kelly says Pulver’s death has led to a campaign to re-focus workers
on the importance of safety. “When a person dies at work, it helps the
family to know something significant has resulted from their loved ones
death.” Sister, Liza, says her family had been moved by the construction
union’s fight to have his name remembered.
“It’s nice to realise the union and WorkCover are putting things in
place so these tragedies don’t keep happening – that you go to work and
you come home,” she says.
“Workplace safety is not something to be taken for granted,” she said.
“Safety will determine whether a worker comes home or not.”
HOIST LANDING PLATFORM CLAMPS
There have been incidents where the clamps that secure the landing
bar of hoist-landing platforms have slipped allowing the gate to fall
free. The clamps used were not fit for purpose – ie they were small
landing-beam clamps (50mm) installed on large landing platforms
(greater than 1.5m). These incidents highlight the need for hoists to be
installed as per the manufacturers, suppliers and designers specifications.
It is recommended the following measures be taken:
• For current hoist installations, inspect and verify the adequacy of
the landing-beam clamps and, if specified in the design, determine
whether secondary clamps have been installed.
• From 1 September 2010, new hoist gate installation must incorporate
the larger (100mm) landing-beam clamps – this includes new gate
installations and hoists being raised. For more info Contact CFMEU
Safety Co-ordinator Rick Rech on 9749 0400.
PRE-SLUNG LOADS
It’s now common to see pre-slung loads turning up on site. Recently on a
WA site one-third of these were damaged. The union believes the care and
use requirements in Australian Standard 4497.2 Round slings – Synthetic
fibre part 2 care and use standard, cannot be met when pre-slinging loads
are transported to construction sites. Pre-slung loads must only be lifted
from truck to ground. Never risk lifting at heights or overhead.

OHS
NUTS & BOLTS FEST
THE INAUGURAL NUTS & BOLTS SAFETY
CONFERENCE has been branded an outstanding
success with more than 250 people
in the building industry getting an uncensored
look at the impact of workplace accidents.
CFMEU NSW Safety Co-ordinator Rick Rech
says a diverse cross-section of the industry was
represented from the RTA through to trainers
and electrical trades. Three case studies involving
fatalities were presented to the conference:
• Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (John Holland)
• Tarcutta highway works (Leightons)
• Telehandler incident (Laing O’Rourke)
Rech says the three presenters outlined the
steps each company had taken to prevent further
fatalities.
A BRIDGE TOO FAR
TWO OF THE CFMEU’S LEADING SAFETY EXPERTS have jumped in
to help our ACT comrades in the wake of the August bridge collapse.
It was only luck that no one was killed when the formwork failed while
placing concrete on the construction of a bridge in Canberra on August
14 this year. The hoseman from the concrete pump crew was left hanging
in the air as other concreters rode the collapse to the ground. A total of 15
workers were treated for minor injuries and two workers were in hospital
after the accident.
CFMEU Safety Co-ordinator Rick Rech and his predecessor Dick
Whitehead travelled to Canberra at the request of the CFMEU ACT branch
to investigate the cause behind the catastrophic collapse.
Rech says from their investigations it appears the collapse was the
“IF YOU WANT DIFFERENT
OUTCOMES, YOU’VE GOT
TO DO THINGS”
DIFFERENTLY”
“The message to the conference was if you
keep doing things the same way, you get the
same results,” he says. “If you want different
outcomes, you’ve got to do things differently.”
He says one of the key changes the companies
had highlighted was the need to empower
their workforces to help prevent incidents.
At John Holland, health and safety representatives
had been given more power to speak
up with protection from the managing director.
“Previously project managers could intimidate
health and safety representatives because
they had that fear they could lose their jobs if
they spoke out too much,” says Rech.
One of the changes initiated by Laing
O’Rourke is that it now requires two people to
be on sites in remote locations.
Rech says the lessons learned were not just
relevant to big builders and contractors.
“It relates to everyone, especially some of the
issues relating to planning and training. It also
highlighted that many people in the industry are
not fully aware of their legal obligations.”
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally opened the
event.
result of a lack of bracing and improper assembly and poor welding of components.
He says the bridge collapse highlights an increasing problem with engineering
design.
“Traditionally engineers were very conservative in their design, but now
they seem to be pushing the boundaries a bit to keep down costs,” he says.
“This is something we need to stop as it won’t be the engineer who ends
up in hospital.”
He says the accident illustrates how dangerous the construction industry
is, and why the CFMEU takes safety so seriously.
“If there is one mistake or there’s one error or one miscalculation workers
run a serious risk of being killed or injured at work.”
UNITY 13

UNITY 14
MIGRANT WORKERS
HE MAY HAVE DIED A PAUPER, but thanks to
the generosity of the public, Korean tiler Myung
Yeol Hwang received a proper funeral.
An illegal worker, Mr Hwang died from
severe respiratory illness, too frightened to visit a
doctor for fear he would be deported.
On August 26, he finally sought help by meeting
with CFMEU officials at Lidcombe. Tragically
it was too late for the then desperately ill man as
he died the next day.
THE CFMEU HAS BEEN INVOLVED in a
research project that could help the union better
represent the needs of its non-English speaking
background members. Construction sites
employ many non-English speaking background
migrants and they are among Australia’s most
culturally diverse workplaces.
A research project at the University of NSW
is examining the extent of this diversity, how it
is perceived and experienced by workers and
how it is managed by supervisors. The research
benefited from having the CFMEU as one of
its industry partners. This research is important
because it will improve workers’ safety and wellbeing
and help promote greater tolerance.
The results show there is a lot of crosscultural
interaction on construction sites.
Eighty-seven per cent of workers and 97 per cent
of managers think cultural diversity is a good
thing. However, 50 per cent of workers indicated
most of their peers at work belong to their own
cultural group and almost 31 per cent say they
do not make an effort to talk with workers of different
cultural backgrounds.
The majority of workers (87%) are comfortable
working with people of different cultural
groups and 64 per cent say they would like to
GENEROSITY
Donations from the public helped secure a funeral and memorial service for Korean tiler Myung Hwang
LESSON IN TRAGIC TALE
Following an article in the Sydney Morning
Herald detailing his story, members of the public
came forward to help the CFMEU fund the funeral.
More than $7,500 was donated toward his cremation
on September 23 and a memorial service
on October 4 that was attended by a delegation of
Korean building trade union officials and former
colleagues.
Andrew Ferguson says the union and its officials
were “overwhelmed by the generosity and
more opportunities to mix with people from
other cultural groups while at work.
However, 45 per cent say members of their
own cultural group need to stick together to ‘survive’
on construction sites. This brings about a
number of challenges.
First, safety concerns are the most negative
impact of cultural diversity if not managed
effectively. Increased level of stress and conflict
among site workers, and decreased level of communication
were listed as other negative impacts.
Derogatory joke telling, name-calling and racist
graffiti were the most common forms of racial
harassment on construction sites, causing distress
for the targeted groups and damaging intercultural
relations and therefore issues like safety.
Because workers need to have a sense of
belonging within their social groups in the workplace,
this poses a challenge for effective representation
of the workers’ voice.
This study provides a tremendous opportunity
to make sense of cultural diversity at the
construction workplace, which in turn can enable
more informed and effective representation
strategies. The CFMEU has a proud tradition
of promoting cultural diversity and the need to
ensure all workers are respected.
humanity” shown by the public.
The union now plans to publish a booklet
detailing Mr Hwang’s tragic story that will be
translated into Mandarin and Korean for distribution
to workers and migrants.
“Not only will this publication honour Mr
Hwang’s life and memory, it will go some way to
ensuring his story is not repeated and let migrant
workers know that regardless of their immigration
status they do have rights,” Ferguson says.
DIVERSITY ON WORKSITES MIGRANT BOOK
A NEW INFORMATION BOOKLET is out that
will help workers from overseas to know their
rights and reduce the incidence of exploitation
in the workplace.
Entitled ‘Your rights and obligations –
immigration facts for workers’ the booklet
covers basic protections and entitlements,
work rights, visa choices, employer obligations
and using a migration agent.
This booklet has been developed after
speaking directly with CFMEU union organisers
and officials in the Sydney, Lidcombe,
Brisbane and Perth CFMEU offices.
It is the first time the Department of
Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has produced
a publication specifically for workers.
It has been created to debunk some of the
myths that exist on worksites and to simply
and clearly communicate with workers.
A one-stop easy reference guide, it has
been written in plain English and translated
into six other languages based on the main
nationalities of vulnerable or illegal workers in
Australia.
Contact the CFMEU office at Lidcombe if
you would like copies of the booklet distributed
at your site.

TEXT LEGAL
CAUGHT
BY THE
ACT
FOLLOWING CFMEU REPRESENTATION,
the NSW Labor Government has agreed
to review the operation of the Building and
Construction Industry Security of Payment Act
1999 (NSW). The review occurred after an intervention
by NSW Premier Kristina Keneally.
The Security of Payment Act was first introduced
in 1999 and amended in 2002. The aim
of the Act is to assist sub-contract companies
secure legitimate payments in a low-cost fashion.
The CFMEU is campaigning to improve the
Act to make it more effective for sub-contract
companies unfairly treated by builders.
The CFMEU welcomed the introduction
of the Act in 1999. However the union is concerned
with the ability of smaller sub-contractor
claimants to access and fully utilise the protections
provided by the Act, particularly where
there are issues of contractor insolvency.
Sub-contractors, including sole traders, are
affected greatly by the actions and situations of
A VICTORY BY THE CFMEU
LEGAL TEAM has highlighted
the rights of union organisers to
enter work sites where they fear
there are safety breaches.
Merhis Constructions has
been ordered to pay the union
$12,000 by Federal Magistrate Ian
Smith after CFMEU Organisers
Jock Miller, Andrew Quirk,
pictured bottom, and Mark
Cunningham, top right, sought to
exercise their legal right to enter
the site and were obstructed.
In an agreed statement of
facts, the court heard that the
union organisers had entered the
Chapel Road South site of Merhis
Constructions in June this year
and had begun talks with the site
manager over safety issues.
Shortly afterward Khalil
Merhi entered the site office and
ordered the men out. He lifted the desk where
Miller was sitting and threw it against the wall and
spoke in a threatening manner to the other organisers.
Merhis Constructions admitted the actions
of Khalil were a breach of the Workplace Relations
Act because they in effect were denying entry to an
authorised union official.
In his decision Magistrate Ian Smith said
others higher up in the contracting chain.
Often work is sublet by the builder to a
principal sub-contractor who sublets work to
other sub-contract companies who then further
sublet the work. The small sub-contractor
or worker not paid can only take action against
the company it contracts to, who may have no
money or assets.
The CFMEU wants the Act changed so that
sub-contractors unpaid can “go up the chain”
to principal sub-contractors or even builders
who have money and power to assist to resolve
RIGHT OF ENTRY WIN
FIGHTING FOR THEIR MONEY
Andrew Ferguson with representatives of the companies fighting to get their money for work at Abbotsford.
Khalil had acted in an “inappropriately
emotional and abusive
manner”. He said it was of “real
concern” that a “construction
manager responsible for two
building sites was inadequately
educated as to OH&S rights of
entry”. “There will be circumstances
where lives may be put
at risk if site managers fail to
appreciate and recognise the
very substantial limitations on
their powers to refuse or delay
immediate entry,” he said.
Merhis Constructions’ barrister
made submissions to the
court blaming the Australian
Building and Construction
Commission for creating a “misapprehension”
about the union’s
right to enter premises.
However, he said Khalil now
understood his obligations not to
refuse entry or hinder union officials in the exercise
of their rights. State Secretary Mal Tulloch
says the win sends an important message.
“Union right of entry must be respected.
Union Organisers play an invaluable role in
ensuring safety standards are maintained, and
when they are lacking, calling in WorkCover to
take action.”
non-payment. The review however is to late
to help out the small sub-contract companies
involved in the ongoing Abbotsford dispute. In
that case the builder went into liquidation leaving
unpaid bills of about $1.6 million.
The contractors, pictured with Andrew
Ferguson, have been picketing and protesting
outside the site and in front of BankWest
offices to highlight their plight.
And although the development appears to
have been sold, there is still no word on forthcoming
money for the men.
COURT ORDERS
OHS AD & FINE
A NSW INDUSTRIAL COURT has taken the
unusual step of ordering a Sydney company, convicted
of an OHS breach that led to the serious
injury of an apprentice, to advertise details of the
case in the print media.
Justice Marks directed the company to
advertise in at least one edition of a major
Sydney daily newspaper, and two trade magazines.
The order means the ad could be seen
by a readership of more than 400,000. The
crane company was also fined $65,000 and
ordered to pay WorkCover costs.
The 19-year-old suffered serious crush injuries
to his lower torso and legs on 20 February
2007 when he fell 2.5m at a Holsworthy residential
construction site and was hit by a onetonne
load of timber flooring. Both the crane
company, and the dogman pleaded guilty.
Justice Marks said the crane company had
volunteered to promote the circumstances of
the incident and had also agreed to participate
in the placement of the advertisements.
“An illustration of what can go wrong by
reference to an actual incident is much more
effective in compelling attention to a particular
matter than the mere recitation or incanting of
a set of rules or basic principles.”
WorkCover’s John Watson said the incident
could have been prevented had the correct
procedures been followed.
UNITY 15

SUPERANNUATION
MATES
HEED
A CALL
FOR
HELP
CBUS PUTS
DOWN ROOTS
IN THE WEST
UNITY 16
THE TRAGIC DEATH OF A YOUNG FATHER
has galvanised the union into helping his family
with workers at De Martin & Gasparini raising
more than $25,000 for the young widow.
Lidcombe resident Nelson Lourenco was
killed in an accident on his way to work, leaving
partner Sandra Pereira, 28, and their daughter,
Emily, 19 months in financial trouble.
Lourenco was the sole provider for the family
and the grief-stricken Pereira had no way of meeting
their mortgage payments.
State Secretary Mal Tulloch praised the work
of superannuation provider Cbus in working
THE MOUNTAIN IS COMING TO MEMBERS
with Cbus opening an office at Parramatta to
service members in western Sydney.
The new centre offers financial planning
advice and although was only meant to open one
day a month is already extending its hours.
“Because of demand we are already opening
2-3 days a month. We’ve had no official advertising
but through word of mouth it is building its
own momentum,” says financial adviser Luke
Verwey.
“It is all about servicing the membership better.
The vast bulk of Cbus’s CFMEU members
live in the broader western Sydney region.”
Verwey says members can come in for an
initial consultation for free, by the end of which
members will know whether they need help or
are on track.
Meetings can only be arranged by appointment,
which can be made by phoning Verwey on
9423 2165. The office will be open on December
7, February 24, March 28, April 20, May 23 and
June 14. Further dates may be added.
DIGGING DEEP
Nick Fodor, Mal Tulloch, Sandra Pereira, Emily, Claude Sgroi and Jose Pinheiro
overtime to pay out Lourenco’s death benefit.
“They managed to pull this together in four
weeks which is a record time for payment,” he
says. “Of course it cannot ease Sandra’s grief, but
it does take a worry away for her.”
He says the union is also helping her to claim
workers’ compensation as under current laws
workers are covered for accidents that happen
when travelling between home and work.
An obviously distressed Pereira says she was
moved by the donation and thanked Lourenco’s
workmates for their thoughts.
De Martin & Gasparini delegate Claude Sgroi
says workers at the Grocon site in Blight Street
and Westfields Centrepoint job also contributed.
He also paid tribute to De Martin & Gasparini
management who matched the funds collected.
Cbus co-ordinator Nick Fodor says Lourenco’s
death is a timely reminder of the importance of
checking their death benefit coverage. “Many
members just have basic cover, but it is important
to know in the event of a death your family will
be okay financially,” he says. The Liberal Party in
NSW has indicated it will abolish journey claims
if elected next year. Workers should consider this
when deciding how to vote next year.
YOUR SUPER CHECKLIST
Superannuation is payable on:
• Wages for 36 or 38 hours;
• Allowances for ordinary hours worked – fares and travel allowance
• Productivity or industry allowance
• Fares and tool allowance
• Performance bonus or allowance
Any other allowance relating to ordinary hours
• Shift allowance – including all hours worked on regular 10- or 12-hour shifts
• Casual loading and shift loading
• Paid leave, such as rostered days, public holidays, annual leave, long service
leave (except on termination). Excludes parental leave
ABN workers who are providing labour only should have superannuation
calculated on all hours worked
• Any other unconditional or extra payment
• In many cases, also worker’s compensation
IF your superannuation is not being paid correctly contact the union
In brief
With the help and involvement of CFMEU Organiser Ian Gemmell,
Cbus has recovered $74,869.08 from Zenith Workforce to make up for
dishonoured payments the company made last year.

TEXT CAMPAIGNS
BRIDGE TOLL ROW
A LARGE NUMBER OF CANCER CASES
among workers who paint and maintain Sydney
Harbour Bridge has led to concerns that the work
may be literally killing them.
Public Sector Organiser Brad Parker and State
Secretary Mal Tulloch have jumped on the issue,
creating international headlines, in a bid to make
employer, the Roads and Traffic Authority, take
the matter seriously.
After meeting with workers, Parker became
aware of concerns the men had over the number
of illnesses that had struck the team. At the time,
workers could identify eight cancer sufferers,
including five former workmates who had died
from the deadly disease.
However further research showed up to 31
sufferers of cancer and other diseases – 21 of
whom where already dead – that could be linked
to work on the bridge.
Workers and the CFMEU and other unions
held talks with RTA management and told them
they were concerned about the prevalence of cancer
with RTA agreeing to “investigate if there is
a cancer cluster on the bridge” as well as review
current work practices to ensure they were not
contributing to the problem.
CFMEU State Secretary Mal Tulloch says the
issue is also tied up with a move to casualise the
bridge workforce.
“We are concerned the increased casualisa-
LEISURE DAYS & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS CALENDAR 2011
Monday January 3 Public Holiday
Wednesday January 26
Friday January 28
Saturday January 29
Sunday January 30
No Work Public Holiday
RDO (fixed)
No Work Saturday
No Work Sunday
Monday February 28 RDO (flexible)
Monday March 28 RDO (flexible)
Friday April 22
Saturday April 23
Sunday April 24
Monday April 25
Tuesday April 26
Wednesday April 27
No Work Public Holiday
No Work Saturday
No Work Sunday
No Work Public Holiday
No Work Public Holiday
RDO (fixed)
Monday May 23 RDO (flexible)
Saturday June 11
Sunday June 12
Monday June 13
Tuesday June 14
No Work Saturday
No Work Sunday
No Work Public Holiday
RDO (fixed)
TROUBLED WATERS
State Secretary Mal Tulloch is
determined to ensure safer working
conditions on Sydney Harbour Bridge
tion of Sydney Harbour Bridge workers is covering
up the true extent of the issue,” he says.
“These diseases can crop up long after casual
workers have moved on and we, and they, have no
idea they are affected.”
The building unions representing the riggers,
painters, carpenters and crane operators who
continually maintain the bridge believe lead paint
may be the cause of the cancers.
Monday July 18 RDO (flexible)
Monday August 15 RDO (flexible)
Monday September 12 RDO (flexible)
Saturday October 1
Sunday October 2
Monday October 3
Tuesday October 4
No Work Saturday
No Work Sunday
No Work Public Holiday
RDO (fixed)
Monday November 7 RDO (flexible)
Saturday December 3
Sunday December 4
Monday December 5
Tuesday December 6
Saturday December 24
Sunday December 25
Monday December 26
Tuesday December 27
Wednesday December 28
Tulloch says two cancer sufferers are working
on the bridge while they deal with the disease.
“These guys love working on this iconic site.
They recognise that it is a dangerous occupation
to be painting and sand-blasting 100 metres
above Sydney Harbour,” he says.
“But getting ill because you are inhaling lead
particles is totally preventable and unacceptable
in this day.”
No Work Saturday
No Work Sunday
No Work Industry Picnic Day
RDO (fixed)
No Work Saturday
Christmas Day
Boxing Day
No Work Public Holiday
RDO (fixed)
UNITY 17

CAMPAIGNS
CLEAN SWEEP
STILL NEEDED
UNITY 18
THE AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND
CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION has a new
boss and apparently a worker-friendly new
mission.
Although no one in the CFMEU was sad to see
former commission boss John Lloyd depart, the
union is not expecting too much from new head
Leigh Johns, the former chief counsel in the Office
of the Fair Work Ombudsman and a former deputy
commissioner with the ABCC.
Under new guidelines announced by Johns,
the building industry watchdog will now refrain
from being politically motivated.
Johns released a 20-point litigation policy, a
first for the body, five weeks after taken the helm of
the building industry watchdog.
As part of its new “worker-friendly” feel Johns
has also promised to help recover employee entitlements
and implement an “all-of-government
action plan” to eliminate sham contracting in
the construction industry. He also promised to
personally preside over examinations where the
organisation uses its coercive powers.
Johns told a recent Senate estimates hearing that
he wanted the watchdog to be a “full service regulator”.
As part of that, he said, he had stopped the longstanding
practice where claims of under-payment
in the building industry were referred to the Fair
Work Ombudsman. Instead the commission
would take up that role.
Johns also said he would convene a round-table
meeting as part of a plan to eliminate sham contracting
in the building industry.
CFMEU State Secretary Mal Tulloch welcomes
the moves, but says the change of direction is an
attempt to counter claims the ABCC is biased
AFTER 18 MONTHS
OF HELL, IT’S OVER
ARK TRIBE IS A FREE MAN. After 18 months of hell, the South Australian rigger was
found not guilty by an Adelaide magistrate of failing to answer compulsory questions about a
stop-work meeting.
CFMEU NSW State Secretary Mal Tulloch was in Adelaide Magistrates Court for the November
24 verdict and says Tribe’s trial shows the Federal Labor Government should immediately abolish
the building industry watchdog.
“Ark was visibly shaking with relief,” says Tulloch. “It is an outrage that an ordinary worker has
had to go through this ordeal.
“We congratulate Ark on his stand and the role he has played in highlighting to the public the
unjust powers of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
“He kept his principles and his cool at great personal cost to himself and his family and he
has shown that there is no place in Australia for these unjust, undemocratic laws and the watchdog
that enforces them.
“This demonstrates what an abuse of power these laws are. The general public does not support
these coercive laws and the government must abolish the ABCC.
“No ordinary person should be dragged through the courts and subjected to what amounts to
little more than a political witch-hunt of unionists.”
Tribe faced six months jail for failing to attend an Australian Building and Construction Commission
(ABCC) interview in 2008.
Clarification: A photograph that appeared in the last edition of Unity showed workers
demonstrating at an Ark Tribe rally. The caption suggested that all those in the photo were
CFMEU members, however a number of unions were marching in support of Ark and the
CFMEU, including members from the LHMU.
against workers. “The ABCC has failed to prosecute
even one employer for underpaying workers or ripping
off workers’ entitlements since it was established
in 2005,” Tulloch says. He says regardless of
the makeover the Labor Government should stand
by its pre-2007 election commitment to abolish the
ABCC.
“No amount of cosmetic surgery changes the
fact that building workers are singled out and
their basic rights removed by this Howard-era
legislation.”
The Australian Greens have introduced legislation
to parliament that would abolish the
ABCC. Labor has said it will replace the ABCC’s
function as a stand-alone building industry watchdog
with an inspectorate within the Fair Work
Ombudsman, but is yet to do so.
THE FACTS
The Australian Building and Construction
Commission costs more than $33 million a year to
run, and has always had the power to rein in abuse
by employers. The fact is, it does not.
Instead in its six years of operation, more than
three-quarters of all ABCC investigations have
targeted workers and unions and only one of its 37
prosecutions was against an employer.
The ABCC has never walked on to a building
site and ordered an audit of workers’ pays to
ensure their basic legal entitlements are being met
and it has never prosecuted a company for sham
sub-contracting.
While the ABCC has been on the beat, safety
has been eroded and the death rate on construction
sites has risen from 3.14 workers per 100,000
in 2004 to 4.27 in 2008.
KENEALLY RIGHT
TO STAND BY
WORKERS
BIG BUSINESS HAS SHOWN IT IS MORE
INTERESTED in profits than people with its
campaign to have NSW safety laws weakened.
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says any
national model must include two planks of NSW
OHS laws - the right of unions to prosecute
safety breaches and that the onus of proof in an
accident is on employers.
Business groups have mounted a blistering
campaign against Keneally saying it will cost
jobs. But State Secretary Mal Tulloch says it is
simply scare mongering by business.
“When the push for harmonisation was
launched the Federal Labor Government said
it would install the best safety laws,” he says.
“Under the agreed model, NSW workers will be
less protected and their safety eroded.”
Tulloch rejects claims Victoria, which was
used as the model for the national laws, has
better safety outcomes.
“We know that NSW is a safer working environment
and it is NSW’s tougher safety laws
that have created this,” Tulloch says.
Tulloch says the right for unions to take court
action against a negligent employer when the
workplace authority fails to prosecute is vital.
“This is a right unions in NSW have had for
60 years and yet business is now claiming it is
some threat to their existence,” he says. “Very
few of these prosecutions have been launched
and in every case they were successful and led
to important changes to safety laws.”
He says Bernie Banton had stood beside the
union movement when it had used these laws to
chase compensation for asbestos victims from
James Hardie. “It would be a fitting legacy to
him if the national laws enshrined the right to
union prosecutions.”

CAMPAIGNS
FIGHT FOR RIGHTS
Building workers voted with their feet in November showing the NSW Labor Government and Liberal
Opposition they are determined to fight for better working conditions at the $6 billion Barangaroo
project in Darling Harbour. NSW Premier Kristina Keneally has called on the Gillard Government to
allow a project agreement, similar to one that ensured the Olympics site was built on time and on
budget. However there is no word yet from the Liberals on what they will do if elected in March next year.
UNITY 19

UNITY 20
THE ESSAY
HEL
THE PAL
HOWTO
EVEN IF YOU ARE OPPOSED TO ISRAEL’S
settlements in the West Bank – and many Israelis
are – there are good reasons for trade unionists
to be sceptical about the global campaign for boycotts,
divestment and sanctions (BDS).
The Palestinian resolution of the CFMEU
National Executive supports Israel’s right to exist,
but calls for a boycott limited to goods produced
in the West Bank settlements. The resolution also
supports a “just and lasting peace” and a “durable
two-State solution”, i.e. a State of Palestine in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip living in peace beside
the State of Israel.
Fair enough. Each of the peoples in the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict has a right to determine its
own future, without being dominated or dictated
to by the other. But will BDS promote the desired
justice of two states for two peoples?
The Palestinian founder of the BDS movement,
Omar Barghouti, (a student at Israel’s Tel
Aviv University) is very open that the real aim of
the BDS campaign is not a two-State solution, but
the end of Israel itself or, in Barghouti’s words
“a Palestine next to a Palestine, rather than a
Palestine next to an Israel”. Thus, “even if Israel’s
occupation of the West Bank were to end, the
BDS campaign against Israel itself would continue”.
(See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnp
ilMYsR0I&feature=player_embedded)
And the slogan adopted by some BDS supporters
in Australia is not “Boycott the settlements”,
but “Boycott Israel”. (See for example: http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGvKD3MmMx8.)
This slogan is not just aimed at Israel’s “occupation”
of the West Bank, but at its right to exist.
Other slogans shouted at protests have been
openly anti-Jewish and crossed the line into overt
racism. After more than 60 years a minority of
Palestinians and their supporters still can’t accept
Israel’s right to exist. They appeal to UN resolutions
that have condemned Israel’s actions, but
ignore more fundamental UN resolutions that
recognise Israel’s right to exist as a state created
under international law and the UN Charter.
A boycott won’t require BDS supporters in
Australia to make any personal sacrifices. It’s the
Palestinians themselves who will have to pay the
price – in lost jobs and declining living standards.
About 22,000 Palestinians are employed in
Israeli settlements. In June 2010, the respected
Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research
found that while 72 per cent of Palestinians supported,
and 26 per cent opposed, a boycott of
settlements’ products, only 38 per cent of them
supported, and 60 per cent opposed, preventing
Palestinian labourers from working in settlements.
(See: http://www.pcpsr.org/survey/
polls/2010/p36epressrelease.html)
The Palestinians seem to be saying that they
want to put the Israeli settlements out of business,
but without losing their jobs in those settlements.
They support the idea of BDS against
settlements in theory, but not in practice.
Will a future Palestinian State give
Palestinians freedom, democracy and human
rights? One test will be whether or not
Palestinians will have trade unions that are
strong, free and independent.

P
ESTINIANS
At present, the Palestine General Federation
of Trade Unions (PGFTU) is the Palestinians’
biggest national union grouping with about
7000 members. However only a small percentage
of its membership has jobs and pays union
dues. No union can be strong and independent
without a solid dues-paying membership base.
So the PGFTU is still dependent on funding from
external sources with their own agendas.
The only way this situation can improve is
if more, not fewer, PGFTU members get paying
jobs. The Palestinian economy has greatly
improved in the past two years but it will be many
more years before it can generate sufficient jobs
for all Palestinians who want paid work. Some
50,000 Palestinians work in Israel itself and
constitute 14 per cent of the total employed workforce
among the residents of the West Bank and
AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW
ROBIN MARGO BELIEVES THE UNION MOVEMENT
IN AUSTRALIA HAS A STRONG ROLE TO PLAY IN
HELPING BRING PEACE TO THE MIDDLE EAST, BUT
ARGUES BOYCOTTS COULD HURT THE PEOPLE
THEY AIM TO HELP.
east Jerusalem. Payment by Israeli employers to
Palestinian workers was $649 million in 2008.
Israel with its booming construction and hightech
sectors offers the best prospects for PGFTU
members to get paying jobs, and for the PGFTU
to acquire a sustainable inflow of union dues.
Perhaps that is why the PGFTU held out against
officially supporting a boycott of West Bank settlements
until it was pressured to do so in late 2009.
Perhaps that is also why Shaher Saad, the PGFTU
Secretary General, has supported closer ties with
the Israeli peak union body, the Histadrut.
Earlier this year the Histadrut signed a
groundbreaking agreement covering all construction
workers in Israel – whether they are
Israelis, foreign guest workers or Palestinians.
The deal included salary benefits, pensions and
educational funds, holiday and sick leave, bad
weather pay and an unfair dismissal process.
The mining section of the CFMEU has provided
an internationally recognised model of how unions
can assist nation-building by providing OHS training
for the Miners Union section of the Chinese
union centre the ACFTU. This training is acknowledged
as the main factor that has improved OHS
standards for mine workers in China.
Allegations that Israel is an “apartheid State”
are often cited as the rationale for BDS, suggesting
that people who were against apartheid
should repeat the sanctions campaign that contributed
to the downfall of the apartheid regime
in South Africa. As a former South African who
was involved in the anti-apartheid struggle in my
student years, I know how false and unjust that
allegation is. But many of the union’s members
may not. All Israeli citizens, regardless of creed
or ethnicity, have the same human and civil rights
under law, use and share the same public spaces
and services and work side by side. True, there
is still serious discrimination against minority
groups in Israel. Discrimination exists everywhere,
including in Australia. But discrimination
is not apartheid.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the simplistic
“goodies vs baddies” contest some people
try to make it out to be. It’s about the real-world
struggle of two nations, each of which is determined
to live in freedom, independence and
security. It is one of history’s ironies that each
needs the other to fully attain those goals.
The focus of Australian trade unionists
should be to assist in the nation building of a
Palestinian State and such assistance should be
provided in a way that builds grassroots foundations
for on-going peaceful relations between the
two peoples. Trade unionists should also remain
in dialogue with both parties. What’s needed
is practical support for efforts to build bridges
between Israeli and Palestinian workers, not boycotts
that drive them apart.
Robin Margo is immediate past President of
the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and one
of its councillors on the Executive Council of
Australian Jewry.
UNITY 21

COMMUNITY
GO SYDNEY
ALLIANCE
THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE LIDCOMBE
offices has seen a strange collection of bedfellows
recently with CFMEU officers and Organisers
joining faith-based and community activists from
across Sydney in a spot of bridge building.
The bridge building is in the form of training
workshops being held by the Sydney Alliance – a
citizens coalition aiming to achieve social change in
our community. The CFMEU is a partner organisation
within the Alliance and a number of its
officials have undertaken the two-day training
courses about community organising.
Organiser Brad Parker has completed the
training and the union is now embarking on a
listening campaign to find out how the union
can better serve its members and what issues
are important to members and their families.
Parker says as the first step in this process is
meeting with union organisers and delegates to
spread the word about the alliance.
The group is based on the tradition of community
organising, recently highlighted by US
157866/0710
President Barack Obama, that grew out of
Chicago’s Industrial Areas Foundation and has
now spread to the UK, Canada and Germany.
The IAF was founded by Saul Alinsky, who
believed that the only antidote to widespread poverty
was active, widespread participation in the
political process. These coalitions have a strong
record that the Sydney Alliance hopes to emulate:
London Citizens has successfully taken action for
living wages, improving London’s minimum wage
from $8 to $14 an hour.
However, the Alliance also looks to
Australia’s grassroots experience for inspiration
including the famous Green Bans, which saw
the building union and resident groups join to
save our urban environment.
The Alliance holds district meetings where
CFMEU members can have their views on the
issues that need addressing. For more information
about the Sydney Alliance visit www.
sydneyalliance.org.au or to get involved contact
Brad Parker on bradparker@nsw.cfmeu.asn.au
The Super Members Term Deposit interest rates are up to 0.25% p.a. more than the interest rates for a Standard Term Deposit. See mebank.com.au for eligible
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BIGGER & BETTER
JJ Son have returned to Sydney’s shores and since
October have been lifting the lunchtime mood on
building sites in NSW and Queensland. However this
year they have also brought along lead singer Idalbelis,
who has managed to pull unsuspecting workers to their
feet for a quick round of hip-swinging across the floor.
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AWARDS – SYDNEY (COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND)
CONSTRUCTION EBA RATES OF PAY
RATES APPLICABLE FROM 1 OCTOBER 2010
CLASSIFICATION PER HOUR
PER DAY
7.2 HOURS
0.8 RDO
ACCRUAL
PER 36
HOURS
TIME & A
HALF
DOUBLE
TIME
CW1 23.49 169.13 18.79 845.64 35.24 46.98
CW2 24.57 176.90 19.66 884.52 36.86 49.14
CW3 (Non Trade) 25.59 184.25 20.47 921.24 38.39 51.18
CW3 (Trade) 26.47 190.58 21.18 952.92 39.71 52.94
CW4 27.78 200.02 22.22 1000.08 41.67 55.56
CW5 29.08 209.38 23.26 1046.88 43.62 58.16
CW6 30.40 218.88 24.32 1094.40 45.60 60.80
CW7 31.75 228.60 25.40 1143.00 47.63 63.50
CW8 33.08 238.18 26.46 1190.88 49.62 66.16
RATES APPLICABLE FROM 1 MARCH 2011
CLASSIFICATION PER HOUR
PER DAY
7.2 HOURS
0.8 RDO
ACCRUAL
PER 36
HOURS
TIME & A
HALF
CW1 24.02 172.94 19.22 864.72 36.03 48.04
CW2 25.13 180.94 20.10 904.68 37.70 50.26
CW3 (Non Trade) 26.17 188.42 20.94 942.12 39.26 52.34
CW3 (Trade) 27.07 194.90 21.66 974.52 40.61 54.14
CW4 28.41 204.55 22.73 1022.76 42.62 56.82
CW5 29.74 214.13 23.79 1070.64 44.61 59.48
CW6 31.09 223.85 24.87 1119.24 46.64 62.18
CW7 32.47 233.78 25.98 1168.92 48.71 64.94
CW8 33.83 243.58 27.06 1217.88 50.75 67.66
CIVIL EARTHMOVING EBA RATES OF PAY
RATES APPLICABLE FROM 1 OCTOBER 2010
CLASSIFICATION PER HOUR
PER DAY
7.2 HOURS
0.8 RDO
ACCRUAL
PER 36
HOURS
TIME & A
HALF
DOUBLE TIME
DOUBLE
TIME
CW1 22.60 162.72 18.08 813.60 33.90 45.20
CW2 23.46 168.91 18.77 844.56 35.19 46.92
CW3 (Non Trade) 23.84 171.65 19.07 858.24 35.76 47.68
CW3 (Trade) 24.33 175.18 19.46 875.88 36.50 48.66
CW4 25.48 183.46 20.38 917.28 38.22 50.96
CW5 26.56 191.23 21.25 956.16 39.84 53.12
CW6 27.61 198.79 22.09 993.96 41.42 55.22
CW7 28.85 207.72 23.08 1038.60 43.28 57.70
CW8 29.57 212.90 23.66 1064.52 44.36 59.14
RATES APPLICABLE FROM 1 MARCH 2011
CLASSIFICATION PER HOUR
PER DAY
7.2 HOURS
0.8 RDO
ACCRUAL
PER 36
HOURS
TIME & A
HALF
CW1 23.11 166.39 18.49 831.96 34.67 46.22
CW2 23.99 172.73 19.19 863.64 35.99 47.98
CW3 (Non Trade) 24.38 175.54 19.50 877.68 36.57 48.76
CW3 (Trade) 24.88 179.14 19.90 895.68 37.32 49.76
CW4 26.06 187.63 20.85 938.16 39.09 52.12
CW5 27.16 195.55 21.73 977.76 40.74 54.32
CW6 28.24 203.33 22.59 1016.64 42.36 56.48
CW7 29.51 212.47 23.61 1062.36 44.27 59.02
CW8 30.24 217.73 24.19 1088.64 45.36 60.48
DOUBLE TIME
UNITY 23

UNITY 24
AWARDS – NATIONAL
APPRENTICES
Apprentices rates of pay for apprentices working for an incorporated employer that is covered by the building and construction general on-site award
2010 (ie. the employer was not previously covered by a State Award/NAPSA)
Important exception: If you are an apprentice and are employed by an employer that is a sole trader or partnership, or you are an apprentice that is aged
under 18 years of age, you may be entitled to different rates of pay. If you are a member of the Union contact the Counter Organiser or the Industrial
department of the Union for more information on (02) 9749 0400. If you are not a member: JOIN NOW
These wage rates apply from the first pay period to begin on or after 1 July 2010. To check your pay or for more information call the CFMEU now.
JUNIOR INDENTURED – FOUR-YEAR APPRENTICESHIP
CARPENTER/JOINER/
STONEMASON
1st
Year
2nd
Year
3rd
Year
4th
Year
Hourly
rate
9.30
11.07
14.60
17.25
Weekly
rate
353.44
420.57
554.83
655.52
Holiday
pay per
week
BRICKLAYER/TILELAYER PLASTERER PAINTER ROOF TILER
Hourly
Rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
33.06 9.10 345.65 32.36 9.18 348.77 32.64 8.77 333.08 31.22 8.96 340.66 31.91
39.28 10.86 412.78 38.58 10.94 415.90 38.86 10.53 400.21 37.44 10.73 407.79 38.13
51.49 14.40 547.04 50.79 14.48 550.16 51.07 14.07 534.47 49.65 14.26 542.05 50.34
60.67 17.05 647.73 59.96 17.13 650.85 60.24 16.71 635.16 58.83 16.91 642.74 59.51
JUNIOR INDENTURED – THREE-YEAR APPRENTICESHIP
CARPENTER/JOINER/
STONEMASON
1st
Year
2nd
Year
3rd
Year
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
BRICKLAYER/TILELAYER PLASTERER PAINTER ROOF TILER
Hourly
Rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
11.07 420.57 39.13 10.86 412.78 38.43 10.94 415.90 38.71 10.53 400.21 37.29 10.73 407.79 37.98
14.60 554.83 51.42 14.40 547.04 50.71 14.48 550.16 50.99 14.07 534.47 49.58 14.26 542.05 50.26
17.25 655.52 60.59 17.05 647.73 59.89 17.13 650.85 60.17 16.71 635.16 58.75 16.91 642.74 59.44
All the wage rates above include the Award Industry and Tool Allowance. The following fares allowance is also payable for on-site work only.
TRAVEL ALLOWANCE 1st year - $12.38 per day 2nd year - $14.03 per day 3rd year - $14.85 4th year - $15.68
APPRENTICES INDENTURED
Rates of pay for Indentured Apprentices aged 18 years or over working for an Incorporated Employer where the employer was, prior to 1 January 2010,
covered by the Building and Construction Industry (State) Award (NAPSA)
Transitional rates calculated under the Building and Construction General On-Site Award 2010. These wage rates apply from the first pay period to
begin on or after 1 July 2010. To check your pay or for more information join the CFMEU now.
These wage rates apply from the first pay period to begin on or after 1 July 2010. To check your pay or for more information call the CFMEU now.
JUNIOR INDENTURED
CARPENTER/JOINER/
STONEMASON
1st
Year
2nd
Year
3rd
Year
4th
Year
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
BRICKLAYER/TILELAYER PLASTERER PAINTER ROOF TILER
Hourly
Rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
7.45 283.18 26.71 7.25 275.58 26.30 7.33 278.62 26.03 6.92 263.04 25.55 7.11 270.26 24.89
10.09 383.27 35.91 9.88 375.29 35.46 9.96 378.33 35.19 9.55 362.75 34.74 9.75 370.35 34.05
13.16 500.08 46.54 12.96 492.48 46.13 13.04 495.52 45.85 12.63 479.94 45.37 12.82 487.16 44.72
15.39 584.67 54.26 15.19 577.07 53.85 15.27 580.11 53.58 14.85 564.15 53.09 15.05 571.75 52.41
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Holiday
pay per
week
Holiday
pay per
week

AWARDS – NATIONAL
ADULT INDENTURED
CARPENTER/JOINER/
STONEMASON
1st
Year
2nd
Year
3rd
Year
4th
Year
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
MOBILE CRANE HIRING AWARD 2010
OPERATOR OF
MOBILE CRANE PER HOUR TIME & A HALF DOUBLE TIME PER 38 HOURS
ACCRUAL OF
0.4 HOURS
Up to 20 Tonnes 18.46 27.69 36.92 701.43 7.38 58.45
21-60 tonnes 19.01 28.51 38.02 722.33 7.60 60.20
61-100 tonnes 19.56 29.33 39.11 743.13 7.82 61.93
101-200 tonnes 20.05 30.08 40.11 762.03 8.02 63.50
201-300 tonnes 20.89 31.33 41.78 793.73 8.36 66.15
301-400 tonnes 21.43 32.14 42.85 814.23 8.57 67.85
400 tonnes plus 21.97 32.96 43.95 835.03 8.79 69.59
PRO-RATA ANNUAL LEAVE
PLUS LOADING
WHERE MORE THAN ONE CRANE IS ENGAGED ON ANY ONE LIFT THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS SHALL BE MADE PER DAY
2 Cranes 2.81
3 Cranes 5.57
4 Cranes 8.33
Over 4 Cranes 11.14
ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCES
Holiday
pay per
week
Pile Driving allowance 13.64 per day
Demolition allowance 1.80 per hour
Wet Work allowance 54 cents per hour
Dirty Work allowance 54 cents per hour
Car allowance 74 cents per kilometre
Overnight allowance 12.77 per night
Meal allowance 12.73 per meal
Fares and Travel Allowance 23.40 per day
BRICKLAYER/TILELAYER PLASTERER PAINTER ROOF TILER
Hourly
Rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
12.26 466.03 43.24 12.21 464.13 43.12 12.23 464.74 43.07 12.13 461.02 42.95 12.18 462.84 42.79
12.46 473.33 44.05 12.41 471.43 43.93 12.42 472.04 43.88 12.32 468.31 43.76 12.37 470.14 43.60
13.95 530.18 49.26 13.90 528.28 49.15 13.92 528.88 49.09 13.82 525.16 48.97 13.87 526.98 48.81
15.52 589.76 54.72 15.47 587.86 54.61 15.49 588.47 54.55 15.39 584.74 54.43 15.44 586.57 54.27
All the wage rates above include the Award Industry and Tool Allowance. The following fares allowance is also payable for on-site work only.
TRAVEL ALLOWANCE 1st year - $12.38 per day 2nd year - $14.03 per day 3rd year - $14.85 4th year - $15.68
Due to the phasing in of modern Awards you may be entitled to a “transitional rate of pay”. If your employer is a soletrader or partnership, you may be
entitled to different rates of pay. If you are a member of the Union contact the Counter organiser or the Industrial Department of the Union for more
information on (02) 9749 0400 If you are not a member- JOIN NOW.
Hourly
rate
Weekly
rate
Holiday
pay per
week
UNITY 25

UNITY 26
AWARDS – NATIONAL
BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION GENERAL
ON-SITE AWARD 2010
PER HOUR TIME & A HALF DOUBLE TIME PER 38 HOURS
PRO RATA
ANNUAL LEAVE
PLUS LOADING
Carpenter, Stonemason,
Bridge & Wharf Carpenter
19.61 29.42 39.22 745.18 68.46 7.84
Bricklayer 19.40 29.10 38.80 737.20 67.74 7.76
Tilelayer (NSW), HardFloor Coverer 19.61 29.42 39.22 745.18 68.46 7.84
Plasterer, Floorlayer 19.49 29.24 38.98 740.62 68.05 7.80
Roof tiler, Slate Ridge/Roof Fixer 19.27 28.91 38.54 732.26 67.30 7.71
Stonemason Machinist 19.61 29.42 39.22 745.18 68.46 7.84
Carver (Stoneworker)
Marker/Setter Out,
20.75 31.13 41.50 788.50 72.38 8.30
Lettercutter 20.18 30.27 40.36 766.84 70.42 8.07
Special Class Trade 20.75 31.13 41.50 788.50 72.38 8.30
Quarryperson 18.89 28.34 37.78 717.82 65.99 7.56
Signwriter 19.63 29.45 39.26 745.94 68.53 7.85
Painter, Glazier 19.06 28.59 38.12 724.28 69.44 7.62
Refractory Bricklayer 22.29 33.44 44.58 847.02 77.67 8.92
Refractory Bricklayers Asst. 19.50 29.25 39.00 741.00 68.09 7.80
GROUP 1
Rigger, Dogger 18.89 28.34 37.78 717.82 65.99 7.56
GROUP 2
Scaffolder, powder monkey, hoist winch driver, foundation shaftsperson, steel fixer including tackwelder, concrete finisher
18.38 27.57 36.76 698.44 64.24 7.35
GROUP 3
Bricklayer & plasterers labourer, demolition work, pile driver, tackle hand, jackhammer mixer driver, steel erector,
aluminium alloy structural erector, gantry hand, crane hand, crane chaser, cement gun operator, concrete cutting or
drilling machine operator, concrete gang including concrete floater, roof layer (malthoid or similar material) dump cart operator,
stonemason assistant, concrete formwork stripper, mobile concrete pump hoseperson or linehand, insulator
18.02 27.03 36.04 684.76 63.00 7.21
.4 OF HOUR
ACCRUAL
FARES ALLOWANCE 16.50 PER DAY
* Where an employer requests a worker to transfer from one site to another site during working hours with their own vehicle an extra 89 cents per kilometre
must be paid.
* Where a worker uses their car to travel to a job outside the defined boundaries an extra 47 cents per kilometre plus on site travelling time from the
boundary to the job and return must be paid.
* The fares allowance must be paid on the rostered day off & superannuation calculated including ordinary time earnings.
LEADING HAND
ALLOWANCE
In charge of 1 person 43 cents per hour
In charge of 2-5 people 95 cents per hour
In charge of 6-10 people 1.21 per hour
In charge of 11 or more people 1.62 per hour

MULTILINGUAL
Bio sam počašćen time što sam služio
građevinskim radnicima
Pišem vam i obavještavam vas da sam dao ostavku na
svoj položaj tajnika sindikata nakon 30 godina službe u
građevinskom sindikatu.
U sindikatu sam počeo raditi 1980 godine kao organizator
iimaosamprilikuzastupatimnogečlanove.Uživaosamu
svom poslu, borio se za neplaćene i ozlijeđene radnike i vodio
kampanje za njihova prava. U tih 30 godina vidio sam mnoge
vlade koje su htjele deregistrirati i uništiti sindikat. Međutim,
uz podršku članova, odbili smo te napadaje i preživjeli.
Bit ću kandidat Australske laburističke partije (ALP) na
državnim izborima koji će se održati u subotu, 26. ožujka
iduće godine. Kandidirati ću se za člana Zakonodavnog vijeća
NSW-a (gornjeg doma parlamenta NSW-a).
Htio bih da Australska laburistička partija bude bolja za
radne ljude. Ako imate pravo glasa u NSW-u ili se možete
upisati na birački spisak, molim vas podržite me i glasajte kako
bi postigli taj cilj. Liberalna vlada u NSW-u će samo oslabiti
radnička prava u vrijeme kad se sindikat rekonstruira.
Hvala vam na prošloj i stalnoj podršci.
Uvjeren sam da će se novi tajnik sindikata, Мal Tulloch,
i novi rukovodeći tim, izabran od strane Upravnog Odbora
sindikata, uz vašu podršku i dalje boriti za prava građevinskih
radnika.
Vama i sindikatu želim mnogo uspjeha u budućem radu.
Andrew Ferguson
UNITY 27

UNITY 28
MULTILINGUAL

UNITY 28
MULTILINGUAL

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find out the latest workplace and workers compensation information for
the construction industry.
You will find information on the most recent safety alerts,
new WorkCover programs, workshops and other events.
To subscribe visit workcover.nsw.gov.au
and click on the subscribe link at the
top of the page.
For further advice and
assistance call 13 10 50
Build your super on
a strong foundation
ABN
Call Cbus on 1300 36 361 61 784 or visit www.cbussuper.com.au
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Importantly, Imp portantly,
Cbus boos boosts ts
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uture
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UNITY51
UNITY51

CHECK
YOUR
STATEMENT
Make Makessure
urea
all llt
the heb
building uilding
an and d
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you youd
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sllisted.
isted.IIf
fiit’s
t’
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ot,llet
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skknow.
now.
AA llong
ongs
service ervicep
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13
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UNITY51
EPS
CONSTRUCTIONS
P/L
Building Contractors
Suite 3
235 Pitt Street
Merrylands
NSW 2160
Ph: (02) 9760 1000
Fax: (02) 9760 1111
MICOS
ALUMINIUM
SYSTEMS
PTY LTD
UNITY51
318 Horsley Road
Milperra, NSW 2214
Ph: (02) 8707 7800
Fax: (02) 8707 7801
UNITY51
DJD
Brick &
Blocklaying
P/L
Brick & Block Laying
Contractors
28 Meta Street
Caringbah, NSW 2229
Ph: (02) 9540 3855
Fax: (02) 9540 4190
499-501 Victoria Road
Wetherill Park, NSW 2164
Ph: (02) 9756 5631
Fax: (02) 9756 5932
Web:
www.advprecast.com.au
Email:
info@advprecast.com.au
UNITY51
UNITY51
ADVANCED
PRECAST (AUST)
UNITY51

UNITY 32
Committed to Safety
The health and safety of our people is of the highest
priority and will not be compromised. At Thiess, our
objective is a workplace free of incidents and injuries.
To achieve this we ensure our own safety and that of
our fellow workers through an absolute commitment to
safe work practices and a healthy work environment.
We also seek the personal commitment of all
employees, subcontractors, suppliers and consultants to
healthy and safe workplace practices.
Thiess Pty Ltd (ABN 87 010 221 486)
Level 5, 26 College Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000
www.thiess.com.au
UNITY51 UNITY51
UNITY51
BUILDING
&
CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRU
C CTIO COURSES COURSE
&
CERT IV IN BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION
(CPC40108)
This course is for people who want to become
builders and managers of small to medium
building businesses. You will acquire the
skills and knowledge required to
coordinate the overall
constructions of low-rise
buildings, which entails
selecting contractors,
overseeing the work
and its quality, and
liaising with clients.
OTHER SHORT COURSES AVAILABLE
ASBESTOS REMOVAL
CONSTRUCTION INDUCTION
HIGH RISK LICENSING CATEGORIES
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL 1800 620 280
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UNITY51

ABC Commercial Tiling Pty Ltd
Unit 7/13 Parsons Street, Rozelle, NSW 2039
Phone: (02) 9810 9001 Fax: (02) 9810 7375
Mobile: 0408 333 617
Abruzzo Ceramics
22 Elizabeth Street, Wetherill Park, NSW 2164
Phone: (02) 9756 2211 Fax: (02) 9756 0278
ACT Masonry Pty Ltd
P.O. Box 90, Jerrabomberra, NSW 2619
Phone: (02) 6284 3288 Fax: (02) 6284 3588
Mobile: 0413 788 671
AJ Glass & Aluminium Aus Pty Ltd
3 King Street, Concord West, NSW 2138
Mobile: 0410 523 840
Email: al-ajglass@bigpond.com
Any District Pty Ltd
T/as Any District Painting
7 Sybil Street, Guildford, NSW 2161
Mobile: 0404 002 002
Phone: (02) 9632 4086 Fax: (02) 9632 4076
Email: info@anydistrict.com
Website: www.anydistrict.com
Ausrise Aluminium Pty Ltd
11 Serpentine Road, Gymea, NSW 2227
Mobile: 0422 803 933 Fax: (02) 9542 6136
Bravo Group Pty Ltd
7 Chiltern Road, Ingleside, NSW 2101
Mobile: 0412 613 484 Fax: (02) 9918 4143
CFS Building & Construction Pty Ltd
PO Box 305, Rozelle, NSW 2039
Phone/Fax: 02 9758 5221 Mobile: 0412 425 212
Cubic Interiors
Unit 1/93 Norton Street, Leichhardt, NSW 2040
Phone: (02) 8585 1344 Fax: (02) 8585 1345
Email: info@cubicgroup.biz
Website: wwww.cubicgroup.biz
Gerry’s Glass Service Pty Ltd
20 Moore Street, Leichhardt, NSW 2040
Phone: (02) 9660 7722 Fax: (02) 9660 7733`
Highground Engineering Pty Ltd
19-23 Bridge Street, Pymble, NSW 2073
Phone: (02) 9440 3874 Fax: (02) 9440 3907
Mobile: 0419 249 809
Email: mikeayres@bigpond.com
Inten Constructions Pty Ltd
Unit 3/5-11 Mellor Street, West Ryde, NSW 2114
Phone: 1800 046 836 Fax: 1800 146 836 Mobile: 0411 677 287
Website: www.inten.com.au
Melhem Civil Pty Ltd
28 Bunyala Street, Carss Park, NSW 2221
Phone: (02) 9547 0101 Fax: (02) 9547 0103
Mobile: 0418 965 107
Melvin Pty Limited
32 Pitt Town Road, Kenthurst, NSW 2156
Phone: (02) 9654 0152 Fax: (02) 9654 0149
Morrow Equipment Company L.L.C.
P.O. Box 533, Caringbah, NSW 2229
Phone: (02) 9525 7741 Fax: (02) 9525 0278
Email: aust@morrow.com
Website: www.morrow.com
Proudly Supporting the CFMEU
Rod-Tech Holdings P/L
75 Gueudecourt Avenue, Earlwood, NSW 2206
Phone: (02) 9959 3614 Fax: (02) 9591 6284
Mobile: 0419 207 010
Southside Reinforcing Pty Ltd
6 Pelican Place, Woronora Heights, NSW 2233
Mobile: 0418 461 584
Three Star Steel Fixing P/L
Phone: (02) 9785 8971
Topdeck Scaffolding Pty Ltd
P.O. Box 586, Mona Vale, NSW 1660
Office: (02) 9979 5914 Fax: (02) 9979 5714
Email: office@topdeckscaffolding.com.au
Website: www.topdeckscaffolding.com.au
Zoomwave P/L
2 Chris Bang Crescent, Vaucluse, NSW 2030
Phone: (02) 9388 7844
Whatever the asset - Diona Deliver
NSW Office
Unit 5 322 Annangrove Rd
Rouse Hill NSW 2155
Ph: (02) 9679 2111
QLD Office
Unit 5, 93 Pearson Road
Yatala QLD 4207
Ph: (07) 3380 8700
www.diona.com.au UNITY51
Scaffolding Safely
Services:
Consultation, design, supply and erection,
swinging stages, propping and shoring. UNITY51
UNITY 33

UNITY 34
Statewide
Concrete Industries
• CONCRETE PUMP HIRE • PLACE & FINISH
COMMERCIAL - INDUSTRIAL - DOMESTIC
2 x 31 Metre Boom Pumps Line Pumps for Hire
ALL AREAS
9623 2638
AFTER HOURS OR EMERGENCY 0418 247 984
PO Box 807 St Marys 1790 UNITY51
NEW SOUTH WALES
TILING SERVICES PTY LTD
Professionals in Planning and Co-ordinating your
specialist requirements in Commercial and
Industrial Tiling.
Also exclusive residential properties upon request.
Unit 19/250 Milperra Rd, Milperra, NSW 2214
Ph: (02) 9792 7430 • Fax: (02) 9792 7442
UNITY51
F.S. CRANES
PTY LIMITED
Proudly Supporting the
CFMEU and Safety in the
Industry
UNITY51
REDWIN
CONSTRUCTIONS
PTY LTD
PO BOX 4769
KINGSTON NSW 2606
Ph: 02 6162 1673
Fax: 02 6162 1675 UNITY51
DFM Contracting
Pty Ltd
• Scaffolding & Rigging
25 Ilma Street
Condell Park, NSW 2200
Ph: (02) 9771 2755
Fax: (02) 9771 2733
Mobile: 0419 272 360
Proud to Support Safety
P.O. Box 815
Lane Cove, NSW 1595
UNITY51
Phone: (02) 9418 7707
Fax: (02) 9418 7723
www.theprimegroup.com.au
UNITY51
GLEDHILL
CONSTRUCTIONS
PTY LTD
Commercial – Industrial
Institutional – Heritage
13 Leeds Street, Rhodes
Ph: 9743 0344
Fax: 9743 0455
Email: builders@gledhill.com.au
A&G Formworkers (Australia) Pty Ltd
24 Grove St, Dulwich Hill NSW 2203
Tel. 02 9560 6199
Fax. 02 9560 8909
Mobile. 0412 234 555
info@formworkers.com.au
www.formworkers.com.au
Unit 11-105 Kurrajong Avenue
Mount Druitt, NSW 2770
UNITY51
UNITY51
Commercial Industrial
Contractors Pty Ltd
– Commercial Building Contractors
– Construction Management
– Design & Construction
125 Woodpark Rd, Smithfield
9632 1166
Fax: 9632 4402 UNITY51
Phone: (02) 9675 7731
Fax: (02) 9675 7744
Website: www.aaatrafficcontrol.com.au
Email: info@aaatrafficcontrol.com.au UNITY51
Building a better future
Ph: (02) 9758 7100
Fax: (02) 9758 7255
Email: info@dasco.net.au
www.dasco.net.au UNITY51
Traffic Control & Management
RTA, Council and Police Approvals & Permits
RTA Accredited Traffic Controllers & Supervisors
Site Inspections, Auditing, Reporting & Consulting
Traffic Control & Management Plans as to AS1742.3
24 Hours 7 Days, Emergency & Incident Response Units
Sydney Office:
Units 3, 11 Weld Street, Prestons, NSW, 2170
MOB: 0439 253 763 PH: (02) 8783 5048
FAX: (02) 8783 5041
EMAIL: shaun@completetraffic.com.au UNITY51
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation and
rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and
environmentally friendly technologies.
For vacancies with Alstom visit:
www.alstom.com.au
Tel: (02) 8870 6000
UNITY51
Bigway
Interiors
Commercial Fitout and
Joinery Contractors
Ph: (02) 9757 1177
Fax: (02) 9757 2838
12 Elizabeth Street, Wetherill Park, NSW 2164
Eastern Nomad
Buildings Pty Ltd
Manufacture and Sales of Modular
and Portable Buildings
25 Holbeche Road, Blacktown, NSW 2148
UNITY51
UNITY51
Ph: (02) 8811 6300
Fax: (02) 9672 1030 UNITY51
Mars Painting
Phone:
(02) 9591 1595
Fax:
(02) 9559 2231 UNITY51
Design & Construction
Commercial & Residential
Development
Project Management
Water Tanks Supplied
& Installed
Colour Consultants
PO Box 354 Berowra NSW 2081
Ph: (02) 9457 7866 Fax: (02) 9457 7899
info@b-mac.com.au
www.b-mac.com.au
In Full Support of all Members UNITY51
Supporting A Safe & Healthy Workplace
hasson
interiors
Specialising in Gyprock,
Partitions & Ceiling,
Interior Fit-outs
GERRY HASSON – Director
Phone: (02) 9525 3181
Fax: (02) 9525 3176
P.O. Box 2732, Taren Point, NSW 2229 UNITY51
Mirvac
Supporting
Safety
Meridian Construction
Services Pty Ltd
P.O. Box 80, Banksia, NSW 2216
Ph: (02) 9599 0399
Fax: (02) 9599 0388 UNITY51
Supporting the CFMEU
Pacific Steel
Constructions Pty Ltd
STRUCTURAL STEEL SPECIALISTS
6 Maxim Place, St. Marys, NSW 2760
Phone: (02) 9623 5247
Fax: (02) 9623 1795 UNITY51
W.P. PROJECTS
PTY LTD
Specialising in Commercial Office Fitouts.
155 Pebbly Hill Road
Cattai, NSW 2756
Ph: (02) 4572 8561
Fax: (02) 4572 8887 UNITY51
Supporting Safety
UNITY51
SUPPORTING SAFETY
MAYLENA PTY LTD
Steel Fixing Specialists
Major Commercial and Industrial
projects undertaken
Ph: (02) 4735 3873
Fax: (02) 4735 3873
Mob: 0418 977 564 UNITY51
Buildup Interior
Pty Ltd
19 Beaumont Street
Campsie, NSW 2194
Tel: (02) 9718 5191
Fax: (02) 9718 5391
Email: buildup@hotkey.net.au
UNITY51
UNITY51

INTERNATIONAL ACTION
KIWIS WAIT
ON THE CALL
SHAKEN It could take up to two years to repair damage to roads and the city’s sewer systems
THE DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKE THAT
DESTROYED CHRISTCHURCH could lead to a
call for Kiwi building workers to come home, says
the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
However NZCTU earthquake recovery coordinator
Marty Braithwaite says there is still a lot of
work to be done before any rebuilding begins.
“At this stage the only substantial post-earthquake
work that has gone on is to secure damaged
buildings and demolish others where it was unsafe
*Source ICFTU
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to leave them standing,” he says.
“The rebuilding has been awaiting geotechnical
reports to determine how land will be stabilised and
repaired to make it safe to build on again.
“This means, at this stage, there has been no
call for outside labour or for Kiwis to return home,
although that may happen sometime soon.”
He says Kiwi workers returning home could
exacerbate housing problems, with more than
6000 homes made unliveable by the September 4
quake.
“Bringing in outside labour on an uncontrolled
basis would compound an already stretched
demand for rental accommodation and put further
pressure on an already seriously damaged infrastructure,”
Braithwaite says.
“For example, it may take up to two years to completely
repair the city’s sewerage system and roads.”
He says the NZCTU is working with government
to ensure locals who have left the building
industry or trainees are utilised during any rebuilding
work.
“There are also a number of people who have
lost jobs as a result of the earthquake, and we are
working with government agencies to try and
ensure they can be utilised in the rebuild (with some
retraining),” he says.
Braithwaite says the NZCTU is pushing for
employer agreements to ensure good process, effective
sanctions to stop rip-offs, decent standards and
good conditions of employment.
Included is the need to ensure protections and
good minimum standards for workers, both as
workers and consumers
WORLD
BRIEFS
WINNING GOAL
The Building and Wood Workers
International (BWI) and construction trade
unions and federations are campaigning to
ensure Brazil does not kick a home goal in
the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
A meeting held early in November, organised
by the BWI, approved a manifesto that
sets out the fundamental demands of the
sector in Brazil.
Construction contracts will reflect
core labour standards as stipulated in the
International Labour Organisation Decent
Work Agenda.
The manifesto calls for health and safety
conditions with the goal of zero accidents;
decent wages; reduced working hours to 40
hours per week; combating informal work
and social protection for workers with special
emphasis on access to social benefits
provided by law.
As the World Cup projects will produce a
significant number of new jobs, it is important
to ensure that the jobs are maintained
after the World Cup and definitely contribute
to poverty reduction.
Trade union leaders are demanding programs
that require effective training, skills
development with an eye on future needs.
UNIONISTS JAILED
Three Vietnamese labour rights advocates
have been jailed for helping organise a strike
by 10,000 workers at the My Phong shoe factory
in January 2010.
Nguyen Hoang Quoc Hung was jailed for
nine years and Do Thi Minh Hanh and Doan
Huy Chuong were both jailed for seven years
for working in an organised manner, distributing
leaflets expressing discontent about
working conditions and about the authorities,
and helping workers to organise a strike.
All of these activities ought to be legal
under Vietnam’s own Constitution and in
international instruments to which Vietnam
is a signatory.
Amnesty International has condemned
the sentences and an increasing number of
unions around the world are sending formal
protest letters to the Vietnamese authorities.
Their families are urging workers worldwide
to call on the Vietnamese government
to release them.
You can join the campaign at www.
labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/
show_campaign.cgi?c=798
UNITY 35

INTERNATIONAL ACTION
HOW LIVES
ARE CHANGED
UNITY 36
MA WINT, 18, SITS CROSS-LEGGED on the
bamboo floor of a wooden house and describes
what it is like when she is hammered by headaches
and seizures caused by the abnormal bleeding
in her brain.
The small house at the back of Mae Tao Clinic
is temporary home for as many as 15 Burmese
families. Most have come to Mae Tao Clinic on the
Thai side of the border with Burma, seeking medical
treatment they cannot get in their own country.
In spite of the medical care MTC offers, she has
just found out that her problem is beyond the expertise
of the Clinic’s staff or those at the local Mae Sot
Hospital. Ma Wint’s hopes now rely solely on the support
of the Burma Children Medical Fund. These
two clinics are funded through Apheda-Union Aid
Abroad, the union movement’s aid agency.
Kanchana Thornton, founder and director of
the BCMF took on Ma Wint’s case and sent her to
Chiang Mai for assessment in the hope of getting
her problem fixed. She says Ma Wint has a history
of intracerebral bleeding – an abnormal connection
between the arteries and the veins in her brain.
“If she does not have the problem corrected she
runs the risk of a massive bleed that could trigger a
severe stroke that could disable or kill her.”
Kanchana says Ma Wint is scheduled to have
radiation treatment this month if BCMF can raise
the 300,000 baht to pay for it. She says Ma Wint’s
chances of a complete recovery are good, but getting
the necessary funds to take her to Bangkok for
treatment will be the difficult part.
“Her family have spent all their money back
in Burma, they have even sold their home. We
don’t normally send patients to Bangkok because
we don’t have a patient house or a support system
there and we know the treatment will be
expensive. We have already spent about 40,000
baht (US$1400) and we need to raise another
300,000 baht (US$10,000).”
Initially, Ma Wint’s family thought the seizures
were caused by her dedication to her studies.
Her father, Ang Myo Neing confirms this.
“She was working hard and doing well at her
schoolwork. Most nights she’d stay up to well past
midnight. We thought she was working too hard,
hurting her eyes by reading by candlelight.”
Ang Myo was worried his daughter’s now
regular dizzy spells and constant headaches were
a sign of something more serious. He took her to
a Rangoon Hospital for treatment.
“Ma Wint was kept in the hospital for 17 days
until the headaches disappeared. The doctors
treated us well, but said they didn’t have the equipment
or the experience to fix Ma Wint’s problem.”
Ma Wint’s father says to pay for his daughter
treatment back in Burma he worked two jobs,
sold his house, furniture and farmland.
“I have nothing left. We’ve been searching for
a solution for a long time. Coming here is my last
hope. My daughter’s brave, she doesn’t complain.
She wants to be a teacher and has been admitted
to university. Her future’s bright if we can get her
problem fixed.”
If you want to help pay for Ma Wint’s operation,
please donate what you can afford to the
Burma Children Medical Fund. You can do this
by making a one-off donation through Apheda.
WHAT THE CLINIC ACHIEVES
Mae Tao Clinic’s report for 2009 documents that
29,874 cases turned up at out-patients, 3918 people
were admitted as inpatients, another 7074
cases received surgery, 13,438 children were seen
at the child health department, 9782 people came
for eye care, 1545 people received eye surgery, 221
new cases needed artificial limbs fitted and 4741
people required dental treatment.
Ma Wint and her father photographed by David
Dare Parker
HELP IN PETERSHAM
Union Aid Abroad APHEDA held its
annual dinner at the Petersham RSL Club
in September raising more than $37,000.
The money raised will help APHEDA
to support its more than 50 overseas
projects across 15 countries. You can
support APHEDA by becoming a Global
Justice Partner. Visit www.apheda.org

LETTERS
CONGRATULATIONS
The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine
(CJPP) would like to congratulate Mal Tulloch
on his appointment to State Secretary of
CFMEU NSW Branch.
We were disappointed to hear that Andrew
Ferguson had stepped down as Secretary to
pursue his political career because of his great
contribution and support towards the human
rights, peace, workers’ struggle and freedom
for the Palestinians.
But CJPP and its members have great confidence
in Mal to fulfil Andrew’s work at a union
level and through the different solidarity movements
the union supports.
The CFMEU has been a great supporter
towards the Palestine issue and we would also
acknowledge the work Mal has personally contributed
over the past few years.
Mal has spoken openly at forums and condemned
Israel’s actions and has encouraged
the BDS campaign.
We hope your support will encourage other
unions to support your position on Palestine.
CJPP Management Committee
THANKS FOR SUPPORT
We would like to acknowledge and thank Brian
Parker and Tipene Keenan for your support for
our Australian National Qualifying Kapahaka
Festival in Canberra in June.
The assistance you provided to the ACT Maori
Performing Arts and Australian Maori National
Committee of Performing Arts was invaluable.
Without your help and support we would not
have been able to bring the festival to Canberra
and make it the tremendous success that it was.
The CFMEU logo was displayed in all promotional
material and was prominently placed in the
program and announced as a Platinum sponsor.
Thank you for helping us to bring Maori culture
and multicultural Australia to Canberra.
Geoffrey Wallace
(ACT Performing Arts chairman)
Isaac Cotter (Australian Maori National
Committee of Performing Arts chairman)
A GOOD MAN
I would like to back up the claims made
by Mark and David Stevens in the last edition
of Unity towards Brad Parker our State
Organiser.
He is certainly a great role model, very
professional and a champion bloke all-round
as well. I’ve had the pleasure of working with
Brad on a classification wage claim dispute
for the past five months which has been very
tough and frustrating as we’re dealing with
a government department that moves at a
snail’s pace.
Throughout this time, Brad has shown my
colleagues and I exactly what the union can
do for you whilst dealing with these clowns.
We had almost given up the fight when along
came Brad to the rescue. He took on our
battle and has put us in a strong position as
we draw close to resolving our issue.
The man does not leave any stone
unturned nor does he walk away from a fight
and these are good traits to have. I would hate
to come up against him. Thanks Brad for your
support and effort.
Shane Oberekar (Stockton Centre Carpenters)
FOR ALL YOUR
CNC ROUTING, PERFORATING
& CUTTINGS NEEDS
ALUMINIUM COMPOSITE
PANEL
PLYWOOD
MDF
www.foxville.com.au
ph. (02) 9604 6882
fax. (02) 9609 2886
email. g.lu@foxville.com.au
Grindley
Construction
Pty Limited
P.O. Box 912
Pymble, NSW 2073
UNITY51
Ph: (02) 9988 3811
Fax: (02) 9988 3575
UNITY51
UNITY 37

YOUR HEALTH
SHE’LL BE
RIGHT, IS
WRONG
UNITY 38
CHRIS STEELE HAS A MESSAGE for his male
workmates in the building industry – go see a
doctor. Now fighting advanced cancer, it is a task
he did too late and a mistake he doesn’t want
other male building workers to repeat.
“A lot of blokes out there have a ‘she’ll be right
mate’ attitude and think things will go away,” he
says. Steele, 47, says he had plenty of signs that
something was wrong, but just put it down to
indigestion.
“In the back of my mind I was thinking this
pain is constant and that I had an ulcer,” he says.
Eventually Steele found he couldn’t eat or
drink water.
“I went to work in the morning and was feeling
so crook that I drove myself to hospital,” the
crane driver with D&G Verticon says.
They admitted him straight away and he was
later told he had oesophagal cancer that had
spread to his lymph
nodes.
“I loved waking up
in the morning and
going to work and having a laugh with my mates.
I was really happy and life was good.
“But things can just turn around so easily on
you. It looks like I’ve caught mine [cancer] a bit
late and that she’ll be right attitude has put me
where I am today.”
He says men in particular should ensure they
have a doctor they visit regularly and not just rely
on random visits to medical centres.
“If I had gone to a doctor when I originally felt
sick there is a chance they would have got it in
time for an operation,” he says.
“Blokes need to talk to their partners about
how they are feeling – guys have to open up a bit
more. If you do that then you will get pressured to
INDUSTRIAL HEALTH MATTERS
PEGGY TROMPF
›› SOLVENTS EQUAL DANGER
The recent tragic death of a construction
worker, who was a floor layer, highlights the
need for all workers to be aware of the dangers
of exposure to solvents, which are used in the
floor-laying business, as well as in other applications
in the building industry where products
need to be fixed or glued.
How many times have you seen floor laying
going on in closed, badly ventilated areas on a
site?
While other workers may be slightly protected
from the hazardous fumes, those in
these types of enclosed spaces are getting a
full dose of toxic substances, unless the safe
working methods are first-rate, and all risks
have been accounted for.
Depending on the type of product used,
exposure to solvents can cause serious skin
problems, such as skin de-pigmentation and
blistering. The eyes, mouth, nose and throat
may become irritated; lung conditions may
occur; breathing problems are common, as are
headaches, dizziness, lack of co-ordination and
in the worst cases, coma may result.
Liver damage, blood clotting, raised blood
pressure are all part of the picture as well.
Some solvents are known cancer-causing
agents. Acute affects on the nervous system
can lead to psychiatric symptoms.
The employer is responsible for your health
FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE
Chris Steele is undergoing chemotherapy in a bid to beat cancer
get checked out. You need to get a regular GP, one
that you go to with the missus.
“We all think ‘everyone gets this pain’, but
then you are dead of a heart attack.
“If a mate at work says he feels a pain in his left
arm, we should be telling him to go get tested.”
Steele, who is in his second round of chemotherapy,
says he now looks around at work and
sees health problems everywhere.
“You go on to a building site and half the
blokes are drinking coke and eating mars bars –
all of these have high sugar – and 70 per cent of
the guys are smoking.
“This is the kind of diet that is going to give
you diabetes or cancer.”
and it is your right to demand to know the
ingredients of any chemical in your workplace.
Ask to see the Material Safety Data Sheet
(MSDS) on any suspect chemical in your workplace
and see your local delegate or health and
safety representative.
Make sure all your work mates are safe from
toxic fumes! If unsure about any information
given to you, call the union on 9749 0400 or
myself on 0419 221 373.
Peggy Trompf is a University of Sydney
researcher specialising in occupational health
and a former director of the Workers Health
Centre in Sydney

DRUGS & ALCOHOL
CARR’S
LEGACY
LIVES
THE WOMAN WHO DREAMED UP the Drug
and Alcohol Foundation, Pat Carr, has died.
In the man’s world of the building trade
union movement, Patricia Carr stood out not just
because she was female, but because she dedicated
her life to the health and safety of workers.
Pat Carr finished school when she was 12 years
old and became an acknowledged leader of the
working-class movement.
The first female officer in the NSW branch of
the Building Workers Industrial Union, she also
pioneered the establishment of a dedicated rehabilitation
service and a drug and alcohol program for
building workers, now known as Foundation House.
Pat Carr’s commitment to labour politics ran
deep in her DNA as the daughter of John Brennan,
one of the Hungry Mile wharfies, who struggled to
make ends meet on the Sydney wharves in late 1930s,
and Margaret Dignan, described by her former
‘PAT BELIEVED ANY
SERVICE NEEDED TO BE
LED BY BUILDING
WORKERS THEMSELVES
AND FOUGHT HARD TO
HAVE THE SERVICE LED BY
A RECOVERING ADDICT’
employer in Scotland as “an industrious” cleaner.
She was born a stone’s throw from Sydney’s
wharves in Pyrmont on August 30, 1932 and her life
became inextricably linked to the union movement.
Brought up a strict Catholic, she became a
Communist at 18 and never wavered in her belief
in the role of communism in liberating the working
class. Her commitment to workers saw her join the
Building Workers Industrial Union in 1951, aged
20, as a clerk and there she dedicated her life while
also being a committed wife and mother.
On July 26, 1957, then 24, she married Lachlan
Carr, a waterside worker, 14 years her senior, whom
she met at a Communist Party meeting. They had
three children. While pregnant with her second
child, Pat was among a handful of people in 1960
who met African-
American singer
Paul Robeson
who was banned
from singing.
When a daughter
was born, she
named her Pauline
in his honour.
After 13 years
of marriage came separation with Pat raising their
three children alone. Although a terrible cook,
her Penshurst home was always full of people;
activists, communists, family-less migrants and
anyone else who wanted to drop in. The family
joined every May Day march and the children were
included in Communist Party meetings and even
parties at the Soviet Union embassy where they
met members of the Russian Ballet.
From 1967 to 1988, Pat was in effect the building
union’s Workers Compensation Officer without
the official title. This title was finally gained
after Carr trained a male solicitor to help with
her work and then enquired why he was being
paid more than her assistant. Soon after her pay
increased and she became the first female officer
of the BWIU (Construction Forestry Mining
and Energy Union) and paved the way for more
women to join her.
In her work fighting insurance companies
on behalf of injured workers, Pat helped thousands
of desperate families, financially and emotionally.
But it was not enough to get them just
compensation. Instead she lobbied to establish a
construction-industry specific rehabilitation service.
However her lasting legacy is the Drug and
Alcohol Foundation that rehabilitates building
workers with addictions. This service was inspired
by Pat’s awareness of the safety risk surrounding
workplace alcohol and drug abuse.
Pat repeatedly saw workers losing their jobs for
being drunk at work. She also saw workers under
the effects of drugs or alcohol, become a serious
safety risk to themselves and others on site. Pat
knew that due to the nature of the workforce in
the building industry that the usual employment
assistance programs had not worked and she was
determined to find a program that building workers
would respond to. She found the best way to do
that was to involve building workers in the process.
ABOVE PAR The field of 120 players at the annual golf day fundraiser
FALLEN
COMRADE
Pat Carr
She fought hard and succeeded in
forming a building industry Drug and Alcohol
Committee comprised of three building workers
and three recovering alcoholics. Out of that committee
came an amazing campaign that educated
employers and workers, while also assuring site
safety for all.
Pat believed any service needed to be led by
building workers themselves and fought hard to
have the service led by a recovering addict. Today
Foundation House works with alcoholics, drug
abusers and gamblers and runs on-site rehabilitation
programs that have raised awareness throughout
the industry of these safety issues and enabled
many workers to rebuild their lives. Pat received an
Order of Australia in 1997 for this work.
With a life committed to helping others, it is
tragic that Pat also faced dark times with the deaths
of her sons, Stephen, aged 29, and Murray aged 50
who both suffered from mental illness.
It was soon after Murray’s death that Pat,
already suffering with Alzheimer’s had a stroke.
She died of a brain tumour on 19 August, 2010.
She is survived by her daughter Pauline and six
grandchildren, Rachel, Matthew, Marisha, Bonnie,
Aden and Sean.
UNITY 39

UNITY 40
PROFILE
A SENSE OF ADVENTURE AND A LOATHING
OF IRISH weather, had Jim McKee put his hand
up for a 10-pound fare on a boat to Australia
aged just 20.
The Ulsterman from Bangor in County
Down left behind his parents, seven brothers
and six sisters expecting to step on to Australian
soil and spot kangaroos.
“I didn’t seen any,” he concedes, but the plasterer
did soon catch up with a breed of animal he
well knew – trade unionists.
“I brought my certificate of trade out with
me. I got here in October 1965 and by November
I had joined the Plasterers Union.”
At the time, the Plasterers Union and
Building Workers Industrial Union (BWIU) had
not amalgamated, but had a strong association
and were operating from the same office.
McKee met BWIU Organiser John Broadie in
1967 and was himself elected as a delegate for the
Plasterers Union. Although not confident about
his ability to do the job, McKee was assured by
Broadie that he would be assisted in every way
possible to develop as a workplace representative.
In 1969 he received a phone call from then
BWIU Assistant Secretary Stan Sharkey, who
asked him if he would be prepared to come on
as an organiser for the BWIU for four weeks.
Almost 20 years later he was still with the union.
For McKee his years working with the rank
and file remain a highlight. “I still miss the comradeship
with the rank and file. There are a lot
of beautiful men out there on building sites and
they need the union now more than ever,” he
says. “I have to confess I am not enjoying retirement,
I miss the union life very much.”
That yearning could in part be because
McKee was there when many of the big battles
were won. When McKee became an organiser
in 1969 there was no long service leave, superannuation
or redundancy benefits for building
workers. He was part of those campaigns and
even today lines up for union protests.
One of McKee’s fondest memories of his
union work was his days in the country. As part
of their job organisers were required to spend
‘I LOVED BRIAN MILLER.
HE WAS STARSKY AND I
WAS HUTCH.’
four weeks in regional New South Wales helping
to organise country-based construction workers.
McKee says he had great respect for the leaders
of the union at the time and was proud of his
union work. He believes his connection with the
union turned him into a different person.
He also is proud to have worked alongside
Safety Officer Brian Miller: “I loved that man, he
was Starsky and I was Hutch.”
However, his union work also tied in with
one of the saddest episodes in his life. A year
after he migrated, his youngest sister Greta followed
with her husband John Doyle.
FIGHTING IRISH
Jim McKee today and pictured with fallen comrades Pat Clancy and Brian Miller in 1977
UNION MAN
FOR LIFE
While working at Concord Repatriation
Hospital she was exposed to asbestos, dying at
34 from asbestosis.
McKee says as a union organiser he then
successfully campaigned to have the asbestos
removed or made safe at the hospital.
“It was a bit late for my sister, but I wanted to
make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else,” he
says.
The long-time Burwood resident has seen
the industrial environment change dramatically
since he became active in trade union affairs. He
witnessed from Australia the crushing of trade
union activism in England by the conservative
Thatcher Government in the mid-1980s and to
this day believes Thatcher broke the spirit of the
British people.
The rise of John Howard saw many parallels
emerge, but McKee says although Howard
crushed the confidence of Australian workers,
ultimately the working class won the day.
In the late 1990s, in the wake of his divorce,
McKee returned to Ireland, thinking he might
stay, but within four years the weather again
drove him down under.
As in his first visit, no sooner had his feet
touched Australian soil then he signed on to
the union again and was active as a delegate for
formwork company Bettaplex.
He eventually retired last year, but insists he
still has some fight left in him.
“I want to help pensioners now – I know I’m
one of them, but it is really is a rough deal the
money they are expected to live on.”