Building workers' wages vanish

Building workers' wages vanish

By Peter Chiltern

SYDNEY — The Building Workers Industrial Union is seeking outstanding wages and entitlements for 40 workers on construction projects at Singleton army base, Richmond TAFE college and an ANZ bank site in Sydney. The workers were denied their wages and other entitlements, worth tens of thousands of dollars, in December when a subcontractor, Dionfield Pty Ltd, was placed in liquidation owing more than $320,000 to the Australian Tax Office, as well as other debts.

The BWIU claims the funds owing to the tax office had been deducted from the workers' wages but not forwarded to the office. A Cronulla businessman centrally involved with Dionfield is still working in the building industry under a new company name and employing other workers.

The union says another company, Stuart Brothers, should be held responsible for the debt to the workers, as it had accepted an unrealistically low tender from Dionfield in order to maximise its own profits. Moreover, Stuart Brothers will benefit from work already carried out but not paid for.

The BWIU maintains the company should honour a long-standing custom in the building industry that main contractors accept responsibility for financial failures among subcontractors which they have chosen. Stuart Brothers took a calculated risk in using Dionfield, and should pay up, as they would have to do for any other commercial decision.

The union also wants the federal government to tighten up company law to prevent such abuses, and to develop a code of conduct for companies working on government projects.

From GLW issue 87