Elias Spernovasilis
Assistant Secretary, CFMEU VIC/TAS
Construction & General Division
In relation to recent reports regarding members moving from Manufacturing to the Construction and General Division of the CFMEU, members have been choosing to move divisions on their own accord for a number of years.
Making the move to the Construction Division after working on construction sites isn’t uncommon. Our division have represented our brothers and sisters on site every day, delivering counsel and comradery, helping to prevent fatalities and getting members home safely to their families.
Our division is proud to deliver excellent industrial negotiations to gain some of the best workplace entitlements in Australia. The choice for workers to shift divisions and be covered by the same union as other on-site construction workers is obvious; we respect the wishes of members who have made this choice and we will continue to fight for fair wages, safe work and equality within the workplace.
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Principal of Employment and Industrial Law, Josh Bornstein states:
The case is about a dispute of the proper interpretation of the Union’s rules and the Construction Division believes that this matter should be dealt with by the appropriate decision-making bodies under the rules of the union– not by litigation.
The Construction and General Division will argue that it’s rules mean that the workers concerned who work on construction sites, can choose to join the Construction and General Division and that it makes more sense for them to be covered by the same union as other on-site construction workers.
The CFMEU VIC/TAS Construction and General Division stands by the power of strength in unity, giving workers a powerful collective voice to fight for what is most important.
