Construction workers will march tomorrow, as unions across the country hang their hard hats in protest.

This is despite the dropping of charges against a union official who was threatened with jail for refusing to answer questions from the federal government’s industry regulator, the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).

The demonstrations call for the abolition of the ABCC, the repeal of the “mis-named” Building and Construction Industry Improvement Bill and equal rights for building workers and building unions, Andrew Ferguson, secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union said.

“[The ABCC] is an extension of liberal party, it’s a legacy of the Howard government, the personnel were very clearly hand picked,” Ferguson told Architecture & Design. It fails to investigate workplace safety — even when one worker is killed every week on a building site and non-English speaking workers are subject to “extreme abuse and exploitation” he said.

The government body is harbouring “a vendetta against the building industry” Ferguson said and is involved in “a campaign to undermine the influence of building unions”.

The protests were scheduled to coincide with the hearing of a charge against CFMEU’s Noel Washington for refusing to attend an ABCC “interrogation” in which witnesses are asked to attend closed hearings and give evidence or face possible imprisonment.

This, the CFMEU claims, is a breach of international labour standards. “Coercive powers being used to interrogate people in the industry, Ferguson said. “We think it’s extremely inappropriate that a person is forced to attend an interrogation about a pedestrian matter, with a threat of going to jail. It’s unheard of in this country.”

The rallies are proceeding in cities across the country. Sydney will see the largest rally, which is expected to be attended by thousands of people.

Rights activists will assemble in Sydney Town Hall Square where representatives from the building unions will speak. They are then expected to march to the office of the ABCC for a peaceful assembly.

There will also we smaller rallies in Newcastle and Woolongon. Large protests are expected in Mebourne and Brisbane too.

The affect on businesses should be minimal in Sydney because Tuesday a fixed rostered day off. However the protests in Melbourne will be during working hours, although it is not anticipated that whole industry will reach a standstill. Instead, it is expected that delegations from a number of sites will take part.

The protests are part of a worldwide march tomorrow across 25 countries, including Santiago, Dublin, Manilla and Tehran.

“We’re confident in a period of time we’ll end up with a better position in terms of these laws,” Ferguson said.

Gemma Battenbough

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