Critical Times

‘
Three construction workers, all of whom have been personally attacked by the Australian Building and
Construction Commission (ABCC), will today launch the ‘Rights on Site’ campaign in Parliament House.
edia ConfereThe campaign, including a TV advertisement, website and other materials, will educate the public about the
draconian powers of the ABCC and build public support for getting rid of the laws.
National Secretary of the Construction Division of the CFMEU, Dave Noonan, said “Charlie Isaacs, Joe Mannucci
and Ivan Franjic will be joining me and other union leaders to launch the Rights on Site campaign.”
“The ABCC forced Joe and Ivan to attend interrogations under threat of six months jail. They had no right to
silence, and could not refuse to attend. Afterwards, they were not allowed speak to anyone about what was
discussed in the interrogation – not even to their families.”
“Charlie was prosecuted and fined for standing up for a mate who was unfairly sacked on the job they were
working on,” he said.
The ABCC powers are sweeping – workers and their representatives can be fined and jailed; union meetings can
be secretly recorded; their choice of legal representation can be denied.
“The ABCC is the last vestiges of Howard’s unfair IR laws. No other workers, apart from workers in the
construction industry, are faced with this sort of heavy-handed and undemocratic assault on their human rights.”
“The ABCC was set up to benefit Howard’s mates in the construction industry. Now the big end of town is pushing
to keep the ABCC, in a desperate attempt to keep their massive profits and intimidate workers from speaking up
about safety and their rights on site,” Mr Noonan said.
“We’re launching the Rights on Site campaign today to highlight the profoundly undemocratic powers of the
ABCC. We find it amazing that the Rudd Labor Government, elected to restore Australian’s rights at work, should
care so little about the rights of people like Charlie, Joe and Ivan and the 900,000 other construction workers in
this country.”
The new ‘Rights on Site’ advertisement will run nationally from today. More information about construction
workers rights can be found at www.rightsonsite.org.au