CFMEU: TurnBULL's ABCC Blackmail

Malcolm Turnbull has recalled federal parliament today, 18 April, to attempt to re-introduce the Australian Building and Construction Commission. He is blackmailing the Independents in the Senate to pass the ABCC Bill or face a double dissolution election in which they would lose their seats.

The ABCC was originally introduced by the Howard Government in 2005. The ABCC discriminates against workers in the construction industry by applying a different and harsher set of laws to workers and their unions not applied to any other industry or the population at large.

The current version of the ABCC bills increases penalties for workers and unions, widens its reach and seeks to implement a Building Code which would take away rights other workers have to negotiate certain items in bargaining agreements with their employer.

Some 1 million workers would be affected because the new version of the Bill will extend the ABCC's reach to all workers that supply, transport or prefabricate manufactured goods, including any ship that is travelling to and from an Australian port.

Under the proposed ABCC legislation:

• Workers would not have the right to silence, a right even afforded to criminals such as ice dealers
• They would face penalties of up to 6 months jail if they refused to answer questions about something as simple as a union meeting
• Workers would not be able to have a lawyer of their choosing
• EBAs containing clauses which provide for the employment of apprentices or older Australians and set maximum hours of work would be illegal

MYTH: THE ABCC IS A CONSTRUCTION
Here is a link to a video we have produced which explains what the ABCC is and what it does https://vimeo.com/162001465

Rita Mallia
State President
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Construction & General Division, NSW Branch
12 Railway St, Lidcombe  NSW  2141
T:  02 9749 0400  F: 02 9749 3604