Sue Bolton, Melbourne
On October 12, a Federal Court judge ordered the Howard government's Building Industry Taskforce to stop accessing the personal banking details of members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) employed on a Multiplex site.
In a press release issued the following day, the CFMEU's Victorian branch noted that the task force had sought the personal banking details of Multiplex employees following the construction industry practice of undertaking a site safety audit after the death of a worker on a construction project. The task force began investigating this practice following the death of a construction worker in August 2003, claiming that the practice is unlawful.
In his ruling, Federal Court judge Shane Marshall stated that the task force's investigative powers are "foreign to the workplace relations of civilised societies, as distinct from undemocratic and authoritarian states". He challenged the task force's right to engage in roving inquiries when it had admitted in court it "might not have a suspicion of anything".
CFMEU Victorian branch secretary Martin Kingham expects that the task force will gain additional coercive powers from the re-elected Howard Coalition government. The additional powers are likely to include the right to interview union officials and members who participate in workplace safety stoppages.
Under such legislation, anyone who refuses to be interviewed could face jail terms and any information provided could be used against them in future court cases. It is expected that the right to silence will be removed for anyone interviewed by the task force.
"The task force only has limited powers at the moment", Kingham said. "One can only shudder to imagine how they will seek to use their new powers in the future.
"Howard is talking up workplace 'reforms' but he should remember that our members are part of this society and just wish to be treated no better or no worse than anyone else. They pay taxes and mortgages like everyone else."
Kingham added that "this kind of intrusive behaviour into workers private lives should have no place in Australian society. Workers should not be subjected to this intrusion purely because they wanted to make sure their work environment was safe.
"We call on the Howard government to heed the warnings of Justice Marshall and not begin the journey down the path to an authoritarian state."
From Green Left Weekly, October 20, 2004.
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