BY SUE BULL
MELBOURNE As the Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry began sitting again in Melbourne, a union leader has been threatened with imprisonment, a former union leader has condemned union activities and 5000 unionists have rallied in support of their embattled unions.
On August 16, the royal commission referred Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Victorian secretary Martin Kingham for prosecution because he would not give the commission names and other details of CFMEU members who attended union training.
Kingham is the first witness before this royal commission to face such charges. If he is convicted, Kingham is likely to face around eight weeks in jail. It will be up to the commonwealth director of public prosecutions (DPP) or the federal attorney-general to decide whether to pursue an investigation and lay charges or not.
The CFMEU is convinced if it hands the names to the commission, its members will face harassment and possibly black bans by industry bosses. The commission argues that it needs the names in order to investigate whether training funds, some of which are government grants, have been used inappropriately.
All building industry unions believe this royal commission is an attempt by the Coalition government to destroy the gains made by militants in the industry, just as the 1998 attack on the Maritime Union of Australia was.
Already, a CFMEU stewards' meeting on August 15 committed itself to industry-wide actions if Kingham is jailed. Similar actions would be likely across the country they could even lead to a nationwide shutdown of the industry and direct confrontation with the Coalition government.
The decision to refer Kingham for prosecution was made just days after the August 12 5000-strong rally to defend the CFMEU. Called by the Victorian Trades Hall Council, the rally closed down all construction sites in the city centre and many in suburban and regional areas.
Contingents from at least a dozen other unions, including nurses, teachers, social workers and public servants, attended the rally. "We understand the nature of these attacks and we'll stand beside you", Ann Taylor from the Australian Education Union told the rally.
The crowd formed a guard of honour as CFMEU officials John Cummins, John Loh and Dave Noonan were called into the commission. Following them were chants of "CFMEU here to stay!", "ETU [the Electrical Trades Union] here to stay!" and "Craig Johnston's metalworkers here to stay!"
The latter was a gesture of solidarity with the suspended state secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. Johnston addressed the crowd, condemning the royal commission and pledging support to the building workers. He received a massive ovation.
In the days following the rally, the commission continued to examine "case studies", without giving the unions much opportunity to counter claims of corruption, bribery and other alleged crimes.
Many were angered by an act of betrayal by John Van Camp, the former state secretary of the Federated Engine Drivers and Fireman's Union. Van Camp resigned his position earlier this year so that he could become the industrial relations manager with Grollo's construction company Grocon. He reported to the commission on August 15 that workers on all Grocon sites had gone on a 48-hour strike in protest at the company's royal commission submission. This had allegedly cost the company over $500,000. The commissioner commiserated, arguing that it looked like an act of retribution and the workers actions were illegal.
The commission's continuing attack on unionists unrolled at the same time as unionists within the AMWU faced further attacks highlighting how badly some bosses want the effective, militant unionists in Victoria to disappear.
The state ALP government is reported to be very worried about some of the commission's revelations. In particular, allegations have been made that the Victorian government gave Japanese food giant Saizeriya a number of grants to pay it back for money lost due to industrial action from building unions. Even the Australian Financial Review has speculated that Premier Steve Bracks may call a late November election, in an attempt to beat the fall-out from the commission's findings expected in December.
From Green Left Weekly, August 21, 2002.
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