The building industry watchdog has been accused of acting as John Howard's political policeman by ordering removal from building sites of stickers and posters critical of the Prime Minister.
The Australian Building and Construction Commission has also ordered that a flag advertising a trust fund for brain tumour victims be taken down from sites because it is based on the Eureka flag, which it considers a construction union symbol.
Richard Burke, a union delegate on a city building site, was told by his employer to remove his car sticker, which read "For our kids' sake, Howard has to go!" or he would no longer be able to park his car on the site.
The ABCC, set up by the Government to keep the building union in check, has ordered construction companies to make sure their sites are free of union signs, posters and paraphernalia, saying they "convey a message that union membership is not a matter of individual choice".
But at a Hawthorn site the foreman, who said he was acting on orders from the commission, has gone further by ordering the union to remove stickers that contain no union symbolism but criticise WorkChoices and Mr Howard.
One such offending sticker calls the Prime Minister "Con-Man", with his picture in the O. Another says: "WorkChoices and John Howard? Not my choice!" Neither sticker identifies the union.
Construction union assistant secretary Bill Oliver said the stickers were in the union shop steward's office and the lunch room of the site.
"Workers have been bombarded with $116 million of taxpayer-funded advertising about WorkChoices, but they get ordered to take down a few stickers that advertise their opposition to it," he said. "It's a bit rude."
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