Unions back calls for Setka to quit over Batty comments

THE nation’s three largest unions have backed the ACTU’s call for Victorian construction union boss John Setka to resign for the good of the labour movement.

Their backing comes as a Labor MP has hinted Mr Setka’s refusal to go is straining the relationship between the political party and his Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining And Energy Union.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus on Thursday demanded Mr Setka resign as secretary of the Victorian CFMMEU branch.

Mr Setka is facing court later this month when he is expected to plead guilty to two criminal charges, including one of using a carriage service to harass a woman.

The outcry over his leadership has grown louder in the past week after he was accused of telling union colleagues that anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty’s advocacy had led to men having fewer rights.

Mr Setka has denied making any remarks denigrating Ms Batty at the union executive meeting.

His union colleagues are demanding an audit of the phone records of those involved in the meeting to discover how it was leaked.

Ms McManus says he must quit the state branch leadership for the good of the whole union movement.

While Mr Setka won public support from the construction arms of the Victorian and NSW branches, Ms McManus has been backed in by the three largest unions in the country.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association, and the Australian Education Union – representing largely female workforces – have a combined membership of more than 650,000. The CFMMEU has about 130,000 members.

ANMF federal secretary Annie Butler said her organisation backed the ACTU’s resignation demand.

“The ANMF has, and always will have, a zero tolerance toward any form of violence and we are working hard with our members to combat family violence,” she said.

SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer said Mr Setka should resign his leadership position in the best interests of his union. ONE of eight members of a family allegedly involved in an “alarming level of intra-familial sexual activity” in NSW has been refused bail.

Cliff Colt, a pseudonym used for legal reasons, is charged with 21 offences allegedly committed between early 2010 and mid-2012, including inciting an adult to have sexual intercourse with a child and inciting a child to commit an indecent act on another child.

Some of the counts are alternative or back-up charges.

The 37-year-old made an application for bail in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday but it was refused.