John Setka resigns from CFMEU effective immediately - Sky News Australia

Controversial union boss John Setka has revealed he will resign as secretary of the CFEMEU Victorian-Tasmania branch amid an ongoing stoush with the Albanese government.

Mr Setka was due to step down from the top job at the end of 2024 after 12 years in the position.

However, the former union boss said his decision to go immediately came amid "ongoing and relentless" stories surrounding the CFMEU.

“These stories have been constant, and while I’ve been the target of many of them, enough is enough, the ongoing false allegations continually do nothing but harm the work this great union does for its members," he said in a statement.

“If my stepping down can stop these malicious attacks on our members and officials and allow this great union to continue to fight for our members, for their wages and conditions, so that they go home safely to their families each day, then I’m happy.

“No individual is greater than the union, this union is and always should be about the members."

Mr Setka's resignation came as welcome news to Victorian shadow roads minister Danny O'Brien who told Sky News' Steve Price the "people in Victoria would be happy to see John go".

Though the Victorian Nationals MP commended the former union leader's ability to broker pay deals for its members, Mr O'Brien acknowledged the drain this had on the Victorian budget.

"At a time when you've got a $188 billion dollar in state debt and you've got workers holding a 'stop-go' sign on those projects getting over $200,000 - I think that's a concern for all Victorians and it's led to significant issues for all of us," he said.

Mr O'Brien's federal colleague and shadow resources minister Susan McDonald rejoiced at the news of Mr Setka's resignation, telling Sky News' Danica De Giorgio it "could not have come soon enough".

"Australian tax payers have been paying the price of John Sekta, the CFMEU and their out of control behaviour (that was) holding the construction sector to ransom," she said.

Mr Setka's resignation comes after he vowed to withhold cooperation on any AFL-related projects unless it fired umpire boss Stephen McBurney.

Mr McBurney was previously the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner where he brought legal action against the union, resulting in millions of dollars of fines against the CMFEU.

In June, the former union boss told The Australian the CFMEU had an "obligation to pursue anti-union, anti-worker f**kers” and that they would pursue Mr McBurney “until the end of the earth”.

The inflammatory comments led Anthony Albanese to encourage Mr Setka away from his campaign against the AFL only for the union boss to demand the Prime Minister "stay out of it".

“The campaign’s not stopping one bit," he said.

"We’re not going to have politicians tell us who we can go after and who we can’t. It’s none of their business.”

The furore spurred the manufacturing division secretary Michael O'Connor to hit out at Mr Setka, calling his threat "ham-fisted and clumsy" and not in the interests of the Australian trade union movement.

Mr O'Connor, who resigned as the union’s national secretary in 2020 following a Setka-backed campaign to oust him, said the union's manufacturing division, unlike the construction arm, didn't condone union funds being used for "personal revenge campaigns".

“This is just the latest episode of Setka and the CFMEU construction division putting their personal agenda first – spending members’ money to settle a grudge and failing to act in the collective interests of members and the union movement,” he added.

Mr Setka's anti-AFL campaign may have triggered the Albanese government's legislation to allow the manufacturing division of the CFMEU to breakaway.

Employment Minister Tony Burke, who introduced the original bill, decried Mr Setka's actions while arguing that breaking off from the CFMEU could help those in the manufacturing division that did not feel served in the union.

“The recent threatening and thuggish behaviour of John Setka has hardened the Government’s resolve to give members a choice,” Mr Burke said.

“It’s not hard to see why those members might want to vote to leave.

"This chance to vote was previously made available to the Mining and Energy Division of the CFMEU - which decided to split and form a separate union."

Mr Setka's AFL fiasco hit the headlines alongside news of an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement giving Victorian-Tasmanian CFMEU members a staggering 21 per cent pay rise over four years.

The whopping pay bump comes alongside a 36-hour work week, labour-hire limits and an array of benefits including funeral cover and miscarriage insurance.

Mr Setka called the EBA a "fantastic result" when addressing journalists after a meeting of thousands of union members in Melbourne last month.

He also praised the meeting, which was the last time he would address attendees, as "a big highlight" of his time in the job.

“This is the last time I get to address you as the secretary, or at all. This is my last year,” Mr Setka told attendees before imploring members to be "proud of who we are" as CFMEU members.

"We are the biggest, we're the toughest union in this country, and we are a household name," he said.

“It's been my absolute honour and privilege to be the secretary of this union and represent all the members. You make me proud. Thank you very much.”

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2024-07-12 12:11:15Z
CBMizQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5za3luZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy9wb2xpdGljcy9jb250cm92ZXJzaWFsLXZpY3RvcmlhbnRhc21hbmlhbi1jZm1ldS1ib3NzLWpvaG4tc2V0a2Etc3RlcHMtZG93bi1hbWlkLW9uZ29pbmctYmF0dGxlLXdpdGgtYWxiYW5lc2UtZ292ZXJubWVudC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2RjZmQ3YmFmNzRlMzI3YjY3NmU1M2JmYjgwZGJlMDBj0gEA

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