Fight you bar stewards, I hate peace
A powerful construction union has spectacularly quit Labor's left faction in Queensland, about two months out from the state election, labelling it a "protection racket" for "dud" politicians.
The Queensland branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) released a damning statement this morning, criticising Labor left for a lack of leadership and inability to advocate for working class Queenslanders.
CFMEU construction division secretary Michael Ravbar said the split would take effect immediately.
"The left factional leadership have consistently devoted far more energy to internal intrigues and power plays than to driving a policy platform that reflects both socially and economically progressive values.
"In the process, the faction has become little more than a protection racket for dud members such as Jackie Trad, who as former deputy [premier] bears much of the blame for the failure to look after workers' interests even on major public projects such as Cross River Rail.
"Quite simply, the so-called left faction is now merely an impotent and self-serving echo chamber for a cabal of Peel Street elite who have totally lost touch with their working class roots."
The Union has traditionally been a strong advocate for Labor, galvanising its members to campaign for the party ahead of state elections.
Mr Ravbar did not say whether the union would still campaign on behalf of the Government before the October 31 poll.
"While the CFMEU will remain affiliated with the ALP, the union will be a more potent foe, free of any formal factional links," he said.
"Our only factional alignment is with the interests of our members."
The CFMEU has been publicly warring with Labor for more than a year now, over concerns about the Government's flagship infrastructure project, Cross River Rail.
In 2019,hundreds of workers marched on state parliament, calling for the resignation of then deputy premier Jackie Trad.
At the time, the trade union provocatively declared Ms Trad was "no friend of the worker" — a bold accusation for the party that prides itself on its blue-collar worker roots.
Jackie Trad was later stripped of her Cross River Rail portfolio and was dropped from cabinet earlier this year, following a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into an unrelated matter.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-26/cfmeu-quits-queensland-labor-left-faction/12596266
