WA: CFMEU forces firm to use workers from union boss' son's firm
By Liza Kappelle
PERTH, April 3 AAP - A construction company had to seek permission from the buildingunion to work Sundays, and was forced to hire workers for the day from a firm run by theunion boss's son, the Cole royal commission was told today.
Terence Cole, QC, is hearing evidence in Perth as part of a national investigationinto corruption in the building industry.
Giving evidence today was Baulderstone Hornibrook's Perth site manager Grant Beckett,who said his company had a policy of hiring casual workers from Workforce One, despiteit costing more than direct hiring.
Workforce One is managed in Western Australia by Clint Reynolds, son of ConstructionForestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) WA state secretary Kevin Reynolds.
Mr Beckett said if Baulderstone wanted to work on a Sunday they had to get CFMEU approval.
The penalty for Sunday work was having to hire more casuals than were needed from WorkforceOne, he said.
"If you want to work on Sundays, you have to basically get approval from the unionto do it, and one of the costs of doing that is that you will employ a number of casuals,"
Mr Beckett said.
Mr Beckett said Baulderstone had to pay double casual rates plus an additional feeto Workforce One for supplying this labour.
He said Kevin Reynolds' deputy Joe McDonald would say if Baulderstone could work thatday, and how many casual workers they must employ.
"Joe gives it the yay or nay," Mr Beckett said.
Mr Beckett told the commission he did have some say in who was employed.
"I do have a little bit, yes. I couldn't say for instance zero, put it that way."
However, he said, Baulderstone had lost two days work on a CBD site last June becausethey had tried insist the company had the right to chose its own workers.
Mr Beckett said the company had decided to take a stand because its former policy hadbeen to re-employ former workers where possible.
"We decided to take a stand, yes. It was a very brief meeting. We were told `you willagree to employ who we tell you to employ'."
Mr Beckett said the union called a strike after the acrimonious meeting.
The commission continues.
AAP lk/jmd
KEYWORD: COLE
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