Dozens of CFMEU stoppages in a week before rail site takeover, hearing told

A construction site health and safety representative has told the royal commission into Victoria's Big Build how casual workers on a project were pushed into becoming CFMEU members, after more than two dozen union stoppages.

This week's hearings have focused on events related to a work stoppage at a level crossing removal project in Melbourne's north, which was contracted to the John Holland construction company.

In 2022, work ceased on the Gap Road project on June 6 and resumed on June 7 after control of the site was transferred to the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union).

The commission heard that project costs blew out by an estimated $6 million.

Today's first witness was Glenn Tyrrell, a crane operator on the Gap Road project who workers had voted to be their health and safety representative.

He was a casual worker who was hired through Zoom Recruitment.

He said there was not much of a union presence at the Gap Road project until after April 2022 after which, at times, up to four CFMEU organisers would turn up and present John Holland site management with safety concerns.

"They'd just come on site and literally stop the whole job," Mr Tyrrell told the hearing.

"They'd have their [Right of Entry] paperwork and they'd stand in front of machinery and plant and just tell the operator that he must stop."

The commission heard that between May 25 and 31, the CFMEU issued 8 safety notices to John Holland.

It presented another 23 notices between June 1 and 2.

Mr Tyrrell described instances where union representatives would walk in front of cranes and even sat on concrete barriers that were about to be lifted into place to force the work to stop.

"Sometimes either the whole job site was shut or a certain area of the job was shut," Mr Tyrrell said.

He gave evidence that about a week after the June 6 stoppage, about 15 casual workers who had been hired through Zoom Recruitment were called into a lunch room and told they had to stop working for the labour hire firm and transfer to a new company, BK Labour Hire.

He said they were also told they were now required to join the CFMEU.

"That's the first time I joined any union," Mr Tyrrell told the hearing.

He said he had to make a bank transfer of $590 to the union up-front for half-yearly fees.

He said he was not given any reason why the casual workers had to transfer to the new labour hire company.

Mr Tyrrell told the hearing that after the CFMEU took control of the site, the union appointed its own health and safety officer without an election and that his role was diminished.

He said the union stoppages before the site take-over put pressure on John Holland and the workers to get the job finished on time, and that more workers were brought in to get it done.

Site supervisor suspected union agenda behind safety complaints

John Holland's site supervisor Robert Van Den Tol told the hearing he had several decades experience before the Gap Road job, where safety was part of his responsibilities.

He said he had always considered it to be a safe worksite and that he did not believe the CFMEU made any substantial improvements once the union took control of the site and installed its own safety representative.

He told the royal commission he did not agree with the union’s claim of a problem with risk assessments for piling works that resulted in the June 7 stoppage.

“Definitely not because if I had seen it, I would have stopped it,” he said.

“No one could start work without a Safe Work Methods Statement. No one.”

He told the hearing he believed the union had an agenda behind its complaints.

“We were the last crew in Melbourne not to have a union affiliated health and safety representative [on large rail infrastructure projects]," he said.

Mr Van Den Tol said that when union officials had been entering the site, they often did not follow proper procedure, such as signing in, alerting John Holland to their presence and waiting until their Right of Entry permits had been handed in.

He said they were not supposed to be wandering around the worksite without an escort if they had not undergone a site induction.

Mr Van Den Tol agreed under questioning that the union officials were swearing at him and making derogatory comments during the June 6 stoppage.

“Their attitude to me was, well I won’t tell you the words…”