Bikies, blackmail and the CFMEU: construction’s dirtiest scandal yet
After last month’s round of inquiries, what is happening with the CFMEU is no longer just hot union drama. We are talking serious allegations of organised crime, ex convicts inside the structure, intimidation claims and testimony that is tearing into the union without mercy. And as if that was not enough, the alleged criminal links were not just on the fringes. Reports describe bikies on the street allegedly intimidating non union workers, while former outlaw figures were said to be orbiting positions of influence within the union during the John Setka era. The question now is brutal and unavoidable. How deep did this rot actually go?
The Brisbane picket video tradies have been sharing on smoko has now been played as evidence in Queensland’s CFMEU inquiry.
This is the kind of story that takes over smoko chat. Because it does not read like dry industrial politics anymore. It reads like something ripped from a crime script. Bikies named in official material. Claims of blackmail. Site conflicts that look less like workplace disputes and more like alleyway stand offs. At that point this stops being about bargaining power and starts looking a whole lot darker.
Two investigation reports have already cracked the lid open, and what is coming out is not vague or polite. The language is sharp. Direct. Heavy. It points straight at how power may have been exercised inside parts of the construction arm of the union.
The Report Didn’t Hold Back: “Thuggery, Fear, Corruption”
The Victorian investigation led by Geoffrey Watson SC did not treat this as a minor internal hiccup. The report outlines alleged corrupt and criminal behaviour within the construction division in terms that suggest something far deeper than a few bad apples inside the union.
It speaks of intimidation, control and a culture where thug like behaviour was allegedly able to thrive rather than be stamped out. For any tradie reading it, that hits hard. This is an organisation meant to protect workers from the dodgy stuff that already goes on in the industry. Seeing language like that attached to it is confronting.
The report paints a picture of an environment where fear and influence may have formed part of the normal operating rhythm. That is why the scandal detonated so quickly. This is not pub gossip. These are findings emerging from a formal government process.
“Once bikies enter the story, the whole industry wears the stink.”
John Setka’s Shadow: How High Did This Go?
This is where the temperature really spikes. Because the Watson report describes a branch of the union that, according to its conclusions, may have decayed from the top down, with intimidation and questionable connections baked into the culture. And the name hovering over all of it is John Setka.
The former CFMEU boss in Victoria, long associated with industrial muscle and hard line tactics on site, is now tied in public debate to claims of organised crime figures orbiting the union, ex convicts present within its ranks and bikies referenced in connection with certain behaviours. The report reportedly refers to more than 25 individuals linked to alleged corrupt conduct or who may have benefited from it. That no longer sounds like a couple of rogue operators. That sounds systemic.
Forget Union Politics. This Starts Looking Like Control
Most tradies want nothing to do with this circus. For many, it is just another headline. Show up, do the job, get paid. That is the focus. But when one of the most powerful construction unions in the country is dragged into allegations of corruption, intimidation and criminal links, the shockwaves do not stay contained.
Because if even a fraction of what these reports describe is confirmed, this stops being union politics. It becomes about power exercised through fear. It becomes about who really called the shots on certain jobs.
And that is the question still hanging in the air: Mate, be honest, If something like this could fester inside a massive, high profile union branch in Victoria… how many other sites were operating under rules that no one ever voted for?.
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After last month’s round of inquiries, what is happening with the CFMEU is no longer just hot union drama. We are talking serious allegations of organised crime, ex convicts inside the structure, intimidation claims and testimony that is tearing into the union without mercy. And as if that was not enough, the alleged criminal links were not just on the fringes. Reports describe bikies on the street allegedly intimidating non union workers, while former outlaw figures were said to be orbiting positions of influence within the union during the John Setka era