Workers back union

WORKERS at the $1 billion Jewel site in Surfers Paradise have fiercely denied claims the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Construction Union (CFMEU) has failed in its duty to members.

A handful of employees contacted the Gold Coast Bulletin yesterday saying they were “back on site just after 1pm” Thursday, and were “sure it would have been sooner” had the CFMEU not been involved.

The site was closed on Tuesday when a man was nearly crushed to death on a hoist. The man in his 20s suffered a broken shoulder, six broken ribs and a punctured lung after attempting a “jump” on the Alimak hoist in Tower 1.

The worker was thrust up- ward as the lift started to ascend and became wedged when a nearby operator hit the emergency stop button.

“Without the union delegates and official, Multiplex would have had us go back to work that day or Wednesday,” one Jewel employee said.

“The union are the only people speaking up for safety on the job.

“Yesterday, the union was there. The Alimaks on site didn’t quite meet the interpretations of the Australian safety standards.

“When the department came out, they favoured the union’s view on the Australian standards.

“They said Alimak needed an extra pressure button on them to operate, and that it was a contributing factor to the accident. Without the union there to say that initially, it would have been overlooked.”

The workers also said the union had been nothing but supportive since the site opened in 2015.

“Sure there have been a couple of incidents – it’s construction, things happen,” the worker said.

“But any safety issue has been resolved. The only people standing up and addressing the standards on site is our union delegates and organisers.”

The employees who contacted the Bulletin admitted flyers saying “CFME-WHO” and “NO CONFIDENCE” were distributed around union sites, but said there was more to the story. “Yes a flyer did go around, but it’s from a disgruntled worker – there’s a massive story behind it,” one worker said.