Published: 11 Apr 2016
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union today launched a social media campaign ahead of the upcoming vote in the Senate to dispel the myths around the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) bill.
The launch, which kicks-off with the release of an ABCC explainer video, was created in response to Malcolm Turnbull’s call to use the ABCC as an excuse to call a double dissolution, spreading misleading information about the Bill and unions in the process.
CFMEU National Secretary Michael O’Connor said around 1 million workers and their families would be affected by the proposed ABCC and needed to know the facts from fiction.
“The CFMEU has today launched a campaign to counter the many myths the Turnbull Government is circulating around the ABCC,” Mr O’Connor said.
“The ABCC is a direct attack on working people and their families. It will make work sites less safe, leading to more deaths and injuries. It will make it harder for young people and older workers to get jobs.
“It will make it easier for employers to bring in temporary overseas workers and to undermine local pay and conditions. The ABCC will erode time off spent with families on holidays at Easter and Christmas.
“Under John Howard and WorkChoices the ABCC harassed and intimidated workers. It stripped away their right to silence and allowed secret interrogations of workers. This time under Malcolm Turnbull will be no different.”
The proposed ABCC Bill will extend the regulator’s reach to all workers that supply, transport or prefabricate manufactured goods, the maritime industry.
The ABCC legislation: