Despite the visibility of nurse and train operator strikes over the last couple of years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed that the building and construction industry has been hit hardest by industrial action.
Of the total working days lost in the September quarter, 59% occurred in the building and construction industry, with 27,500 working days lost – a startling 300% increase from the June quarter.
The numbers held true on a per 1,000-employee basis as well, tripling from the June quarter’s 7.9 days lost to 25.6.
The Australian building industry hasn’t seen this level of industrial action since September 2012, when the CFMEU pushed for strikes to improve safety standards.
Industry-specific regulator needed
“In the middle of a housing and cost of living crisis, we need industry to be working at its peak,” Master Builders Australia Safety and Contracts deputy CEO and national director IR Shaun Schmitke said.
“Long and unnecessary industrial disputes lead to higher costs and longer wait times for much-needed housing and supporting infrastructure.
“This is exactly why the building and construction industry needs an industry-specific regulator, starting with the removal of pattern bargaining, which holds businesses and clients hostage.”
The Master Builders Association (MBA) is calling on the Federal Government to establish a Construction Industry Compliance & Corruption Agency (CICCA), a central body to oversee, investigate and enforce compliance with a range of special industry-specific rules, laws and obligations.
“Pattern bargaining gives the CFMEU unwarranted leverage and seriously puts at risk the viability of projects if the union’s pattern deal is not signed,” Schmitke continued.
“The Federal Government needs to do more.
“Placing the CFMEU into administration does not go far enough to address the structural and cultural challenges in the industry and ensure change is permanent.”
The Federal Government’s attempts to regulate the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) are likely one of the core reasons for the increase in industrial action, as CFMEU members protest its forced administration.
Former CFMEU officials Michael Ravbar and William Lowth are suing the government in the High Court, alleging being put into administration is infringing on freedom of political communication.
Should the Court rule the Government’s actions are lawful, more stringent regulation of the CFMEU and its alleged organised crime links are certainly on the cards.