^{Article from Australian Financial Review, 19/10/2020}

CFMEU subcontractor push 'threatens project delays, costs'

The construction union has warned hundreds of NSW subcontractors that it will soon be enforcing a controversial new rostered-days-off calendar that will effectively shut down projects every second Monday, even though no major builder has signed on to it.

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union on Monday notified subcontractors covered by its new enterprise agreement that it would report to the building industry watchdog any of them that had not introduced its fixed RDOs by December.

The calendar requires that all workers take their RDOs at the same time in what amounts to a nine-day fortnight and builders have warned that it threatens to create costly delays, including for infrastructure critical to the post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

The notice marks an escalation in the CFMEU's bargaining strategy, which uses subcontractors to put pressure on builders to sign up to its new enterprise agreement.

At the same time, the union is seeking to bring pressure on builders directly by securing ballots for protected industrial action at Watpac and Probuild to push them to be the first to sign up and spark a domino effect in the industry.

The Master Builders Association sent a letter to the NSW government warning that implementing the calendar would increase the costs and delivery times of state projects.

“What we’ve got here is a union suggesting they will control the industry through the subcontractor sector without any consideration to the financial and commercial risks out there,” MBA NSW executive director Brian Seidler said.

"If subcontractors have formal commercial contracts with builders and they can’t fulfil their scheduling because of an agreement they entered into after the contract was signed, there can be serious dislocation, whether it's liquidated damages or costs."

Pay rises

Mr Seidler said that if the RDO calendar threatened a builder's program, "they will simply choose non-union contractors" and claimed that "numerous" subcontractors were now seeking to get out of their agreements.

Over the past year, the CFMEU has got more than 200 subcontractors on to its agreement – the bulk of them before the pandemic – including pay rises of 5 per cent a year and a fixed RDO calendar favoured by John Setka in Victoria.

But, in a situation extraordinary for the industry, no major builder has signed on as companies baulk at the large pay increases and broad restrictions amid the COVID-19 crisis.

According to the CFMEU notice, titled a "friendly reminder to subcontractors", the agreement's new RDO calendar will take effect from December 1.

"Non-compliance with your enterprise agreement obligations will be a breach of your enterprise agreement subject to prosecution and notifiable to the Australian Building and Construction Commission under [the Commonwealth building code]," it said.

The union said those builders with an agreement that exempted specific projects would not be subject to the fixed RDO calendar.

The only builder that applies to is top-tier boutique outfit Roberts Pizzarotti, which has carved out projects because of its unusual five-day work week.

For the remaining builders, the CFMEU has told them that unless they come on board by the end of the month, it will refuse to exempt their projects from the calendar.

CFMEU NSW secretary Darren Greenfield played down the notice, saying it was "a standard reminder of the RDO calendar start date, which subcontractors have been long aware of and factoring into their job planning".