John Setka is never far from controversy. For years, the Secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union’s Victoria branch has been in and out of the courts, and the headlines. He has a history of assault charges and intimidatory behaviour. He is reportedly close to alleged Melbourne gangland personalities straight out of Underbelly. And to conservatives, his brash, plain-spoken manner and seniority in a notoriously “militant” union make him a figure of revulsion.
But this time, Setka seems to have set the hatchet on himself. Last week, The Age reported that Setka had told a meeting of the union’s national executive that anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty’s activist worker was leading to men having fewer rights. Meanwhile, Setka has plead guilty to harassment charges, over messages he sent to a woman. Despite facing court, the union continues to pay Setka’s salary.
The latest attacks were a bridge too far for many who might otherwise support him. ACTU secretary Sally McManus has called on Setka to apologise, while Labor leader Anthony Albanese has called for his resignation
Violence and intimidation
The John Setka story is an angry one. He’s long had a reputation in the Australian union movement as someone who isn’t above resorting to violence and intimidation when fighting for fairer workplaces. In 2012, The Australian reported that Setka had 60 criminal charges to his name.
In 2012, Setka was found guilty of intimidation against Grocon workers at a construction site in Melbourne’s CBD. Federal Court Justice Tracey found a group of protestors, led by Setka and other union officials, hurled abuse and threats against the workers, including “scabs”, “dogs”, “rats”, “you will die”, and “I’m going to kill your family”.
Even as CFMMEU Assistant State Secretary in 2010, he was fined $6000 by the Federal Magistrates Court after engaging in “highly reprehensible behaviour” at an ANZ Docklands construction site in response to managers’ reluctance to take workplace safety seriously. He allegedly screamed at the Bovis Lendlease construction manager and general foreman, threatening that “this job’s a f–king deathtrap and a disgrace. If you kill anyone on this job, I’m going to quit my f–king job and get you”. Back in 2009, Setka faced five charges — including two of assault and two of obstructing and intimidating a Commonwealth public official from the Australian Building and Construction Commission. According to reports, Setka headbutted a building commission inspector.
This year alone, Setka has faced a significant number of criminal charges for alleged violent offences completely unrelated to his industrial activism, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. They included charges of recklessly causing injury to a woman back in July 2017. He also appeared in court in January, with Westgate Family Violence Investigations Unit listed as the prosecuting agency. A few weeks prior, The Age reported police were called to a property in Melbourne’s western suburbs on Boxing Day following reports of an argument allegedly involving Setka.
The stereotype of a “union thug”
Setka has also launched court proceedings of his own accord. In 2012, he sued then opposition leader Tony Abbott, over allegations he labelled him a “thug”. Abbott eventually won that case, and his defence hinged on proving Setka’s previous criminal history. But the stoush with Abbott points to the broader divide between Setka and the right. To conservatives, Setka is the very caricature of a “union thug”. And irrespective of whether they’re right, Setka has at time been provoked.
In late 2015, he was pulled over by armed police in front of his family, and arrested. The charges of blackmail which arose from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, related to allegations that he threatened to not supply concrete to construction sites run by Grocon, a company his union was in dispute with. Two years later, those charges were dropped. Setka’s children are reportedly still traumatised by the dramatic arrest to this day.
But despite his vindication, Setka continued to court controversy. In September, still raw over his treatment by the justice system, Setka tweeted a photo of his children holding up a sign telling the Australian Building and Construction Commission to “get fucked”. Setka deleted the tweet, and put it down to the emotional year he’d been through. But it still drew outrage from the right, with Scott Morrison calling it “one of the ugliest things I’ve seen”. In the same interview, Morrison made the extraordinary step of threatening to de-register the CFMMEU. In this context, it’s easy to understand some of Setka’s sense of victimhood. Morrison’s response speaks to the general hostility the Liberal Party has to the union movement.
While Setka may have a point about the conduct of the ABCC, the Royal Commission, and the fierce scrutiny placed on CFMMEU officials, his conduct makes him a poor spokesperson for the union movement.
John.. at this juncture you seem to be detrimental to the movement.. have a think about it.. being the king of nothing is a very reductionist position.. for all that you have contributed to not be naught you need an effective exit strategy..
And Morrisons failure to look critically at corporate thugs help to legitimise Setka’a position.
Well, there is a reason for that.
Setka is unlikely to be lining up on the start line of the annual ‘couta boat races on Port Phillip Bay, is he?
Although looking at the cut of the current PM’s derriere, I’m not sure there will be many offering to take him out except for moveable ballast.
I don’t know John Setka and he may well be as rough as painted by his court cases and silly attacks on Rosie Batty.
But I remember reading of building sites in the 1960’s where workers walked for a kilometre to find a toilet and four or five deaths on a major job were acceptable. Similarly to get a job on the wharves you lined up and you might get a days work or not – back breaking and continually dangerous. It was these conditions which produced (mostly) men who were willing to stand up to indifferent employers, police , and the courts all in the thralldom of those classes which still infects the Liberal party today. If Setka and before him, the John Cummins’ Norm Gallagher’s and so many other unionists willing to risk the violence and police state run by and for the friends of capital, were not willing to counter violence with the same, does anyone seriously think the capitalists would suddenly raise wages and look after the health and welfare of their workers? If I was watching a crane deliver 3 tonne of concrete over my head I would be very happy that someone like Setka had established some minimum safety measures and legal protections for me.
Bosses and people like Morrison never spend a dollar more than they are forced to and this forcing requires hard men who are prepared to be just as violently nasty as Dutton, Cash, Poluzzo and their police enforcers.
A Liberal voter sees a union thug. I see a frontline soldier who knows the depth of savagery that his enemies will sink to when their profits are squeezed.
all true Matt but it should be about the battlers not the battys … Mark Latham with tatts is a very unfair way for this bloke to be remembered..
Well, there is a reason for that.
Setka is unlikely to be lining up on the start line of the annual ‘couta boat races on Port Phillip Bay, is he?
Although looking at the cut of the current PM’s derriere, I’m not sure there will be many offering to take him out except for moveable ballast.
Rudyard Kipling’s TOMMY, about a different sort of war, put it well – “People sleep soundly in their beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do them harm”.
An oldie, mouldie but none the less true.
If I was watching that crane, I might have a thankful thought for Setka. Or two or three. Having someone who fights for you to have a safe workplace, that’s a great thing.
If I had been the owner of that phone that he called 25 times in one evening, and sent 45 text messages to, calling her a “weak f—en piece of shit” and a “treacherous Aussie f—en c—” and a “f—en dog”, I might not have such thoughts. I might not have such thoughts if I were trying to fight against family violence. Fighting for a safe family life, and having someone quite actively oppose you, isn’t such a great thing.
It’s fair enough if male workers say that the power struggle between workers and boss, and their fight for a safe workplace, is more important than any conflicts between women and men. It’s fair enough if they try to get as many supporters as they can on their side. However, it’s also fair enough if women say our fight for a safe that is world for us takes precedence for us. It’s just as fair if, when push comes to shove, we care more about our safety from violent men, than we do about construction worker’s safety from reckless employers. What’s good for the goose.
It’s John Setka’s fault alone that he decided to fight for safety for one group, but actively threatens safety for another, thereby putting the the two at odds with one another in the first place.
It’s a bit rich for Crikey to be relying on ‘evidence’ published by the Australian newspaper. Yes, Setka has ‘form’, but by highlighting his misdemeanours you imply those whose policies are based on the rape of Unions and workers are squeaky clean and exemplary. Just for an example – Grocon. I expect Crikey to be a bit more even handed. I’m sure if you dug a little deeper you’d find his political opponents have blood on their hands as well.
It’s worth remembering who the people are that are running some of the construction companies in our major cities. This entire Union are thuggish, appearing more like a 1% MC club than a workers organisation but then the people they have to deal with on behalf of the workforce are not exactly angels.