Following a damning exposé by Nine media in mid-July (“Building Bad”), on Friday 23 August 2024, all Construction and General Divisions of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) were placed into a scheme of administration by the Albanese Labor Government. This was a truly historic event. The stated purpose of the administration is to make the CFMEU a law-abiding union.

So, how has it been progressing? Not well, unfortunately.  

On 12 November 2024, a rally was held in Sydney protesting the administration of the CFMEU in NSW. This was the third such mass rally since the administration began in late August this year, begging the question of how many such rallies will be allowed before laws in relation to unprotected action are finally exercised?

The 12 November rally was held despite CFMEU NSW administrators sending messages to branch delegates the week before, instructing them not to attend or promote the November 12 rally in Sydney as it was “not authorised by the CFMEU and is likely to be taken to be unprotected action”. Unprotected action is industrial action which has not been approved by the Fair Work Commission and is essentially unlawful.

The warnings, which advised members not to participate or risk losing their jobs, appears to be the CFMEU NSW administrator’s strongest action yet towards asserting control of the rogue union. The NSW administrators warned that;

“Delegates should not be promoting, enabling or encouraging the unauthorised stoppage on November 12,”. “This includes attending the rally, providing resources including union banners and/or flags or other materials and promoting the stoppage amongst members.”

Despite these warnings, thousands of union members took to the streets on 12 November to very publicly display their contempt for the administration of the CFMEU. One CFMEU Delegate at the rally told members to “get ready” to walk out permanently if the sacked leaders lost their High Court challenge to the administration. The ruling is expected to be delivered in February or March next year.

The CFMEU NSW branch has attracted much public criticism and has been labelled the most out-of-control branch under the administration following media reports and photographs of CFMEU delegates and organisers secretly meeting with the former leadership behind the scenes. The administrator’s NSW executive officers, Chris Christodoulou and Philip Pasfield, sent a formal letter to members prior to the rally stating that;

“no other state in Australia is taking action on the 12 November, which puts the spotlight on NSW”.

“Please be aware that if you attend the unauthorised rally your employer may have the right to take action against you which at a minimum may include docking your pay,” the letter reportedly said.

“We do not want to see any members put in this position or put at risk of losing their job. Don’t let employers use your anger over administration to disadvantage you.”

One CFMEU Delegate directly attacked the administrator’s authority at the rally, saying;

 “they did everything they could to threaten us, frighten us, intimidate us and try and stop us coming here today and it didn’t work”. “There was a message sent to all CFMEU members yesterday afternoon saying there was no CFMEU rally – that was sent from the administrator,” he said. “One of the main things to know – and you need to know for the future – any messages you get from that administrator ignore them. They don’t come from the rank and file, they don’t come from the delegates, they come from an administration that has been put in place to destroy our union.”

Former CFMEU Secretary (who was ousted by the administration in August) Darren Greenfield, who is facing charges for receiving bribes from an employer (allegations which he denies) told the crowd that the battle against the administration would keep going and;

 “you’ll never shut me up, ever”. “When we call for another rally you need to come out, you need to talk on your sites and make sure – if our organisers are handcuffed by these bastards, if they’re still there – talk to the other members and do what you’ve done today.”

The administration laws do contain “anti-avoidance” powers that allow for fines against any individual who undermines the administration. But so far, no one at the Fair Work Commission has displayed the least interest in actually applying these deterrents. This is notwithstanding Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt stating that;

“we absolutely expect the Fair Work Commission will make use of the laws that were passed by the parliament and we expect the Fair Work Ombudsman will make use of their powers when it comes to unprotected industrial action”.

In a nutshell, CFMEU NSW is currently in administration, but there is a live question as to who is actually running the CFMEU in NSW? Is it the administration that cannot stop unprotected action taking place concerning their own union or is the ousted executive with the help of other unions who are still calling the shots behind the scenes?

One thing is clear enough, if the authorities are not going to enforce the law, the old guard of the CFMEU are going to keep doing whatever they can to undermine the administration.