Waleed Aly has waded in to the fierce reaction from tradies to Covid restrictions on the construction industry in Melbourne, calling it ‘weird’.
Waleed Aly has sounded off on the construction war unfolding in Melbourne, calling the intense tradie reaction to tea rooms being forced to close last week “weird”.
Comparing the industry’s Covid-safe plans to the entertainment industry’s ability to continue operating in lockdown, Aly slammed workers for failing to acknowledge “a huge amount of privilege” to stay open.
It comes as thousands of tradies filled the streets of Melbourne today in mass protests after the $22 billion construction industry was shut down for two weeks.
Anger has been brewing over vaccine mandates, designated break spaces on construction sites being shut down, and the sector’s operation under a 25 per cent worker capacity to meet social distancing requirements.
Last week, tradies walked off the job in sporadic strikes, setting up tables and chairs in the middle of streets to take coffee breaks. The ensuing protests have seen ugly brawls break out, with police officers and journalists injured in the throngs, and a dog allegedly kicked.
Touching on the furious reaction in The Project tonight, Waleed probed secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, suggesting that the workers were simply being uncooperative.
“There is something particular with the construction industry,” he began.
“There are quite a lot of industries open with Covid-safe plans but the level of transmission and the compliance issues that the Victorian Government have identified simply aren’t being identified in these other places.
“What is it particularly that makes the construction industry so recalcitrant on this?” he asked.
“To be fair, the level of transmission in a whole lot of places like warehouses, obviously aged-care homes has been an issue and continues to be,” Ms McManus replied.
“I think, too, the further you get away from health care settings the more people can switch themselves off or not confront the reality that this virus is a dangerous, deadly one and maybe that has a bit of an impact as well.”
Rebutting her claim, Aly responded: “But Sally, the whole attitude seems weird.
“This protest that emerges out of nowhere because tea rooms are being shut down doesn’t seem to acknowledge that there is a huge amount of privilege that the construction industry has enjoyed just by being allowed to stay open.
“We are an industry that is allowed to stay open, but the attitude in a place like this seems totally different to the things we are seeing in the construction industry,” he said of the entertainment sector.
“There seems to be something psychological going on that is particular here?” he asked.
“Well, maybe there could be PhDs written about this one,” Ms McManus replied with a laugh.
“I certainly know that – and I will explain it – the issue of the lunch room,” she continued.
“Culturally for the construction industry, they had to fight for ages to get lunch rooms and then all of a sudden you turn up one day and you can’t use your lunch room. They are already at 25 per cent, already have the social distancing, et cetera, et cetera.”
She went on to say the issue could have been handled better by both the Victorian Government and industry bosses, given there was a lack of communication with workers before restrictions came in to place on their work sites.
Hundreds of tradies staged a walk out in Melbourne on Monday, ditching their sites to descend on the Elizabeth Street office of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).
Violence and chaos soon erupted, with police responding by firing rubber bullets into the crowd.
In response, the government shut down the construction industry for a period of two weeks in Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Mitchell Shire and the Surf Coast, effective midnight on Monday.
“We’ve been clear – if you don’t follow the rules, we won’t hesitate to take action,” Victorian Treasurer and Industrial Relations Minister Tim Pallas said last night.
“We have seen widespread noncompliance across the industry and that’s why we’re taking necessary steps to protect every single Victorian.”
In addition, an abruptly-announced vaccine mandate further infuriated workers.
In order to work on site, all tradies in Victoria must have received at least their first jab by September 23, the state’s Covid reopening road map declared this week.
But the mandate was an “unrealistic and blunt approach” that undermines the vaccine rollout, given at extremely short notice, and which did little else but inflame tensions, the Victorian Building Industry Group of Unions (BIGU) said in a statement.
“The (BIGU) maintains the view that the construction industry would have voluntarily reached high levels of vaccination without a heavy-handed approach,” the statement read.
“This heavy-handed mandate by the chief health officer, which was implemented with no notice, has only served to drive many people towards the (anti-vaxxer) movement.”
The union’s Victorian state secretary John Setka said there had been little consultation with the government over Covid measures affecting the industry.
“I have never spoken to Daniel Andrews to be honest,” Mr Setka told the Today program on Tuesday. “I have never met him and never spoken to him. I’ve had no discussions with Daniel Andrews ever.”
Tradies unlikely alone in views
Those watching the chaos outside the CFMEU office were horrified, but experts say the angry boilover is unsurprising.
University of Melbourne law professor Joo-Cheong Tham said the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) fundamentally opposes vaccine mandates.
Some individual unions are in favour of requiring jabs among their workforces – teachers for example – but Prof Tham said the broader union movement has been “remarkably cohesive in opposing employer mandates”.
“Four interlocking principles underpin this position,” he wrote in an article for The Conversation.
“They are (that) high vaccination rates should be attained through encouragement and facilitation, not employer mandates; that where strictly necessary, mandates should be implemented through public health orders; that effective access to vaccines should be secured; and that the voices of workers should be respected.”
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2021-09-21 11:03:45Z
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