Labor’s National Executive is set to decide whether it will continue to take donations from the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU).
It comes as stakeholders in the industry call for a Royal Commission investigation into the unions.
The Executive will meet on July 18 and according to Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke, action will be “fairly firm.”
Numerous state branches have already opted to cut financial ties.
Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 program, Labor Minister Bill Shorten said he expected a freeze on donations from the CFMEU until it had been dealt with following a string of worrying allegations.
They include corruption charges against union boss Darren Greenfield and his son Michael, the resignation of John Setka after a fallout with the head of the Australian Football League (AFL), and allegations of organised crime links.
On July 17, Labor placed the CFMEU into administration, with the Fair Work Commission General Manager Murray Furlong appointed as administrator.
“The number one job of any union is to look after its members,” Minister Burke said in announcing the move.
Think Tank Says Current Investigation Will be Ineffective
But some have criticised Labor’s apparent tough stance on the union, saying it doesn’t scratch the surface of the party’s close ties.The Australian Institute for Progress (AIP) called it “window dressing” and that with 50 percent of Labor Party members and MPs involved with unions there was an “insoluble conflict of interest.”
“We are calling for a Royal Commission to look specifically at the CFMEU, including its relationship with government. Given the government’s significant overlap with the union, this appointment would need to be bipartisan so electors could have confidence in its conclusions,” said AIP Executive Director Graham Young said in a statement.
Mr. Young also said numerous policy moves had undermined safeguards against union misbehaviour.
ACTU Says Cleanup Will Take Years
Meanwhile, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus said the process to clean up the CFMEU could take years.Speaking on ABC Radio, Ms. McManus explained the steps that would need to be taken.
“After an administrator is appointed, and there’s new elections and a new leadership, there’s proper processes put in place to make sure that’s the case, we‘ll want to satisfy ourselves, so we’ll interrogate that,” she said.
“Unions are democratically run organisations and should be, and that (new leadership) should happen as soon as that union is in a position to govern itself and has to be after the criminal elements are kicked out.”
The ACTU moved on July 16 to suspend the construction division of the CFMEU until it had been cleansed of criminal involvement.
