A messy divorce between the Labor Party and the Canadian Federation of Trade Unions could lead to a week of strikes that threaten to halt construction of essential transportation infrastructure and disrupt rush-hour travel.
Premier Chris Minns is also bracing for a week of strikes that threaten to disrupt rush hour travel on Sydney’s light rail, causing headaches for commuters.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed that the government has obtained “intelligence” indicating that a rogue construction union is preparing to use workplace health and safety laws to shut down vital projects, including possibly the Western Sydney Airport Metro line.
“We expect they may use occupational health and safety laws (to cause disruption),” a senior government source told The Daily Telegraph.
A messy divorce between Labor and the CTU could halt construction of vital transportation infrastructure this week.
The government is “intensifying contingency planning for a full range of scenarios” to avoid business disruption, the source added.
There is also speculation among Labor sources that rogue union members will demonstrate outside the state Labor conference this week in protest at their expulsion from the party’s main gathering.
The intelligence comes a day after the Sunday Telegraph revealed an explosive email sent by NSW Mineworkers Union secretary Darren Greenfield to Premier Chris Mines, in which the union leader threatened to reveal the names of ministers and MPs he met before the election.
The Sunday Telegraph has revealed a controversial email sent by Darren Greenfield, secretary of the NSW Miners’ Union, to Premier Chris Mines.
Mr Greenfield was charged in 2021 with accepting a series of bribes from a construction company. His son, Michael Greenfield, has also been charged with bribery. The case is pending before the courts and both men have denied any wrongdoing.
The Labor Party’s national executive committee on Thursday severed ties with the building section of the Building Trades Union in four states, including New South Wales, following allegations that organised crime figures had infiltrated the organisation. The union strongly rejected moves to replace him with a director.
Mr Minns pushed for the NSW branch of Labor to be expelled after Nine Newspapers published a photo purporting to show one of the alleged bribes that took place in 2020.
The NSW opposition has called on the premier to refer the letter and its allegations to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and to demand details of any meeting he held with the head of the Home and Farm Workers Union before the election.
Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Natalie Ward said it was essential there was transparency about the agreements reached with the union on wage deals. Photo: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard,
It is understood that Mr Minns has not met Mr Greenfield since becoming Labour leader.
Opposition infrastructure spokeswoman Natalie Ward said there must be full transparency over the agreements reached with the union on wage deals.
“We need to know the deals that were made, the handshakes, the promises that were made before the election that need to be fulfilled now,” she said.
Since taking office, ministers have announced 10 separate meetings with the Building and Construction Workers’ Union, on a range of issues including labour rights reform. A government spokesman said most of the meetings were not with Mr Greenfield’s construction wing. The ministers have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Association will add to Sydney’s industrial headache by announcing a two-hour shutdown of all light rail lines during the morning and evening rush hours. Some services will run at reduced frequencies while others will not run at all.
The strike comes after negotiations between the RTBU railway workers’ union and operator Transdev broke down.
“Transdev was supposed to provide us with a fare increase schedule at the beginning of the week, but what we got was worse than the previous offer,” said David Babineau, secretary of the RTBU’s tram and bus division.
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