Denne avgjørelsen har vekket sterke reaksjoner, blant annet hos deltakerne på årets Global Power Trade Union Conference. De mener at regjeringens inngripen bryter med ILO-konvensjon 87, som beskytter arbeideres rett til å organisere seg i fagforeninger og å velge sine egne representanter.
Konferansen, hvor også Heismontørenes Fagforening er representert, kritiserer den australske regjeringen for å ha tatt drastiske tiltak uten å følge vanlige rettslige prosesser. De peker på at regjeringen har behandlet fagforeningen strengere enn selskaper som også kan være involvert i kriminalitet, uten at lignende lovgivning har blitt rettet mot arbeidsgivere.
Fagforeningene som deltar på konferansen krever at den australske regjeringen umiddelbart gir CFMEU tilbake til medlemmenes kontroll, og at regjeringen opphever loven som de ser som et angrep på arbeideres rettigheter og fagforeningsfrihet.
Nedenfor kan uttalelsen fra konferansen leses i sin helhet.
2024 Global Power Trade Union Conference – Sweden
The International Conference of Global Power Trade Unions, meeting in Sweden, on the 18th September 2024 considered the implications of the legislated administration of the Construction and General Division of the CFMEU in Australia and makes the following public statement:
2024 International conference of Global Power Trade Unions condemns Australian Government
Workers have the right to form unions and to elect their own representatives. This is a human right under international law, protected by Convention 87 of the International Labour Organisation. Australia has ratified this Convention, yet the Australian Government’s actions in dismissing the elected officials of the CFMEU Construction Division clearly breach it’s terms.
The Australian government says that it has acted following media allegations of criminal activity involving the union.
Unions attending the 2024 Global Power Trade Union (GPTU) being held in Sweden, opposes any criminal infiltration of trade unions; workers are entitled unions free of criminality and corruption. But media allegations are not proof, and persons facing charges are innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. Any allegations of criminality should be prosecuted by police and dealt with by the courts. Until such time as courts have dealt with charges, individuals and organisations are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
This important principle has been abandoned by legislation overriding the democratic rights of members and imposing an administrator on the CFMEU. We note that the Australian Government has stated that corporations may also be involved in criminal activity ; yet no similar legislation similar has been passed to deal with employers.
Unions attending the 2024 GPTU conference are deeply concerned with the unprecedented legislative intervention into the CFMEU, an independent, democratically elected trade union. The impact on thousands of construction workers whose hard-fought wages, conditions and safety will be jeopardised by these laws.
Unions attending the 2024 GPTU conference calls on the Australian government to take immediate steps to return the CFMEU Construction Division to the control of members and to commit to the repeal of this anti-worker legislation.
Unions attending the 2024 Global Power Trade Union conference stands in solidarity with the CFMEU and Australia’s construction workers.
