BY BILL MASON

BRISBANE — Contract scab labour could be used on the Suncorp Stadium project in a bid to break a strike by building unions. The federal government's building industry task force has offered “safe passage” to contract labourers in a provocative move that could embarrass Queensland's Labor government, which is building the $280 million stadium.

Electrical Trades Union state secretary Dick Williams warned on February 28 that the move could trigger a bitter dispute similar to the 1998 waterfront battle.

The federal task force confirmed it was providing legal advice to employers locked in disputes. Four unions — the ETU, the plumbers' union, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the Builders Labourers Federation — are involved in a 10-day strike, which began on February 26, over enterprise bargaining disputes. Work on the high-profile Suncorp Stadium has been on hold since the strike began, while a hearing continues in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

Developers who have yet to reach a new agreement include the key partners in the stadium project. The major stumbling block for an agreement with the Queensland Master Builders Association, which is acting on behalf of a number of developers, is over an extra 13 rostered days off.

From Green Left Weekly, March 5, 2003.
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