Winter Issue 2009 - cfmeu

in Cuba’s May Day parade
Kevin Reynolds presents a cheque for 12,600
Euro’s to Salvador Valdes-Meza, General
Secretary of the Cuban Federation of Workers.
3 hurricanes destroying a lot of their
major infrastructure. I was therefore
pleased to be able to present a
cheque on behalf of all the CFMEU
delegates for 12,600 EURO’s which
will help to rebuild local housing.
APHEDA (Union Aid Abroad)
donated a further $220,000 towards
rebuilding the Cuban Children’s
Hospital and to help buy much
needed medical equipment.
One thing that stands out when you
go to Cuba is they don’t have much
after years of being blockaded by
the US Government, but what they
do have they share and they get on
with leading a productive life.
It was interesting to catch up with
other union leaders from around the
world including the USA and Canada
and delegates from UCAT (Union of
Construction Allied Trades &
Technicians) from the U.K. – they all
face similar struggles as we do here
in Australia, and it was refreshing to
have an exchange of views and
swap ideas and tactics about how
best to achieve victory in these
struggles. Safety is an important
issue all around the world, which
leads me thank all those workers
who supported the ‘International
Day of Mourning’ rally and march at
Solidarity Park on April 28th.
Joe McDonald addresses the Huge CFMEU
crowd at the Day of Mourning Rally
It’s heartening to see that so many
members drew a line in the sand to
say they won’t put up with shoddy
safety procedures and unsafe
workplaces.
It sent a clear message to Worksafe
WA that they are not out on sites
doing their job effectively. Worksafe
needs to focus more on preventing
workplace accidents leading to
death and injury rather investigating
horrific events after the horse has
well and truly bolted.
I would like to give a message of
support to our comrades in the West
Gate Bridge dispute. Let’s make one
thing clear, when you have
employers’ who reneged on
agreements and then bring in Scabs
to take good jobs from our
members, you are asking for
trouble!
BETRAYED!
Before the last election Labor
politicians were saying the ABCC
had to go. Here’s what Penny Wong
said on 7 September 2005, “Why is
it that building workers in this
country ought to be treated
differently to other workers? We do
not think it is appropriate to put
one set of workers under far
harsher and more stringent
regulation than another set.”
Now that Rudd has been elected
that tune has changed as we saw
from Julia Gillard at the ACTU
national congress. It is a disgrace
how they blatantly say one thing
and mean another – they are in
effect, liars! At least with Howard we
knew where we stood.
We now have another union
member, Ark Tribe, facing 6 months
jail for refusing to be interviewed by
the ABCC. Like Noel Washington
before him, Ark will get all our
support in our fight to achieve one
fair law for all.
Finally, I would like to thank all those
members who exercised their
democratic rights and voted in the
State CFMEU WA elections.
Sincerely,
Kevin Reynolds
State Secretary
CFMEU WA
Construction Worker – Winter 2009 Page 3
CFMEU