An emergency meeting of the national executive of the CFMEU has this morning decided that the Victorian Branch will be placed into administration, with the National Office to assume all senior executive powers.
CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said he would use the new powers to immediately establish an independent process, overseen by a leading legal figure, to investigate any credible allegations of wrongdoing.
“The CFMEU has zero tolerance for criminality and anyone found to have engaged in criminal conduct while representing the CFMEU will be identified and removed,” Mr Smith said.
“The CFMEU has one purpose and one purpose only and that is to defend and advance the safety and conditions of workers. The Victorian Branch has been hugely successful in pursuing this purpose, but the national executive also recognises that a number of recent allegations are serious and demand an unprecedented response.”
Mr Smith said although serious allegations of wrongdoing demanded a serious response, general smearing of officials and delegates because of their histories or personal relationships was completely unwarranted.
“Cancel culture will never be our culture,” he said.
“Our union operates in a tough industry in which people are badly hurt or killed every week and in which shonky developers and contractors are allowed to run rampant.
“There are corporates and right-wing politicians who want our union to go away and they’re not motivated by any actual ethical concerns, they just don’t believe blue collar workers deserve decent pay or proper safety standards on site.
“The National Office will be uncompromising in cleaning up whatever wrongdoing we find because we know that blue collar workers depend on our union being strong and effective.”
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