Many are describing the resignation of John Setka as a win for women, as the construction union grapples with shocking revelations made by Nine newspapers over the weekend.
John Setka was the former head of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU)’s Victorian branch, who brought his planned resignation forward on Friday to step down effective immediately.
Setka cited the media’s “malicious attacks” on him and CFMEU staff members in the lead up to Nine newspapers’ publication of a months-long investigation into the union. The investigation alleges there were several incidents of misconduct on building sites and within the CFMEU under his watch, including the infiltration of bikie gangs and criminal figures, bullying and harassment of Indigenous workers, and more.
“These stories have been constant, and while I’ve been the target of many of them, enough is enough,” Setka told Nine newspapers in a statement.
“If my stepping down can stop these malicious attacks on our members and officials and allow this great union to continue to fight for our members, for their wages and conditions, so that they go home safely to their families each day, then I’m happy.”
Today, Minister for Industrial Relations Tony Burke announced an independent administrator CFMEU will be appointed and has asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate any criminal allegations made against the union.*
Here’s everything you need to know.
What’s the story?
John Setka’s resignation came the day before The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, AFR and 60 Minutes published a months-long investigation into the CFMEU, a union that represents employees in the construction, manufacturing, timber, textile, clothing and footwear industries.
The union has ties to state and federal governments, with many CFMEU staff members employed on large government construction projects, like the Victorian government’s $100 billion Big Build road and rail infrastructure program.
According to Nine’s investigations, there were many bikie gang members or associates and organised crime figures that were employed in lucrative positions within the union.
Former Australia Federal Police assistant commissioner Mark Ney told Nine he was concerned these figures were employed “for the wrong reasons” and were “taking advantage of their positions within the union”.
For example, Joel Leavitt was appointed as a CFMEU health and safety official and was earning an annual salary of around $250,000 on a Victorian government Big Build project. Last year, detectives tracking bikie gangs found that Leavitt had used a car assigned to conduct worker safety officials to “engage in bikie gang activities”.
Another major allegation made by Nine involved a series of bullying and harassment claims, particularly targeted towards First Nations employees and hiring companies.
Covert footage obtained by Nine shows senior CFMEU Indigenous organiser Joel Shackleton threatening to bash Danny Miller, who founded the Indigenous hiring company Marda Dandhi, in March 2022. Shackleton repeatedly used violent language and threats targeted at Miller, who was working on a publicly-funded construction site at the time.
In January this year, Indigenous man and employee for Marda Dandhi, Ben Nash arrived for his first day of work at a construction site in Melbourne, where he was allegedly bullied and humiliated by CFMEU staff because of his previous employment with Marda Dandhi. The next morning, Ben’s mother discovered his dead body; he had taken his own life.
Responding to the allegations made by Nine, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she has “absolutely zero tolerance for any sort of bullying, thuggish behaviour on Victorian worksites”.
“Where we have this rotten behaviour, it needs to be stamped out,” Allan said.
The Allan government has since cut ties with the Victorian branch of the CFMEU, which is now in administration.
The national secretary of the CFMEU Zach Smith released a statement on Monday, responding to the allegations and to Setka’s resignation.
“(John Setka) is a legend of our union who leaves an enormous legacy. However, recent allegations are serious and demand a thorough response,” Smith said.
“While we address these allegations, it is essential to recognise that smearing officials and delegates based on their histories or personal relationships is completely unwarranted. Cancel culture will never be our culture.”
What does it mean for women?
In 2018, the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union merged with the CFMEU. But in February this year, the female-dominated union requested to split from the construction union.
Reasons for the call to split stemmed from emerging revelations of Victorian branch CFMEU head John Setka and his views and treatment of women.
In 2019, Nine newspapers revealed leaked comments from Setka about Rosie Batty, the 2015 Australian of the Year and family violence advocate. According to Nine’s reports, Setka said men’s rights had declined since Batty began her advocacy.
Setka responded to these allegations at the time, saying his comments were taken out of context and he in fact held a great deal of respect for Batty.
That same year, Setka pleaded guilty to harassing his now ex-wife. Police investigations revealed Setka had called her 25 times and sent her 45 text messages in a single night. According to reports, he used threatening and explicit language targeted at her, calling her a “treacherous Aussie f—en c—” and a “f—en dog”, and a “weak f—en piece of shit”.
At the time, leader of the Australian Labor Party and now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese removed Setka from the party for his comments targeted at Rosie Batty.
Responding to the news of Setka’s resignation, the Prime Minister said: “Good.”
“I expelled him from the Labor Party in my first few weeks as Labor leader. That was appropriate. John Setka has no legitimate place in the Labor movement,” Albanese said.
“Trade unions exist to look after workers, to look after their wages and conditions and health and safety. They don’t exist to engage in the sort of conduct that John Setka has clearly been engaged with.”
Other prominent women in the union sector, including Sally McManus and Michele O’Neil from the Australian Council of Trade Union (ACTU), have welcomed Setka’s resignation.
ACTU Statement on allegation regarding the CFMEU pic.twitter.com/oqtZpFEl2Z
— Australian Unions (@unionsaustralia) July 15, 2024
Speaking on ABC’s 7:30 last night, McManus, who is the secretary of the ACTU, said she had “absolutely” no knowledge of the CFMEU allegations prior to Nine’s publishing.
“We are dealing with organised crime that has infiltrated one of our unions,” McManus said. “That’s a serious matter and we will not tolerate it. We will stand up against it.
“We will do whatever is necessary to kick them back out of our movement and to close the door shut.”
Jenna Price is a contributor for The Sydney Morning Herald, who wrote a column on why Setka’s resignation is “good news for women”.
“The removal of Setka won’t fix construction immediately, and it won’t even fix the CFMEU, but we all need it to change,” Price wrote.
“The ACTU’s McManus has called on the union to rebuild its own house, minus the criminal elements. And that would be the very bare minimum required for a sector which plays such a significant part in the foundations of our economy.”
Long way to go to fix this industry – but this is a start.https://t.co/ezVwWAATBo
— Dr Jenna Price (@JennaPrice) July 15, 2024
‘Shameful.’
Senator Jacqui Lambie supported the proposal for the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union to split from the CFMEU in February.
But the Labor party and the Greens joined forces to ultimately block the female-dominated union from doing so.
In a post on social media, Senator Lambie took aim at the Greens party for the decision.
“In February, I proposed an amendment and later a private senator’s bill to grant textile workers a fair vote to demerge from the CFMEU,” Lambie wrote. “Led by John Setka, a man infamous for his abusive behaviour and criminal charges.
“The Greens, champions of gender equality but shamefully voted against these women, denying them a basic democratic right and siding with Setka and the CFMEU.”
* Updated at 1:55pm on 17/7/24.