Microwave thrown by union delegate during Cross River Rail outburst
A CFMEU delegate allegedly threw a microwave in the break room at the major rail tunnel project in Brisbane – but there were other incidents on the Cross River Rail site viewed by a human resources investigation that recommended two union representatives be sacked.
Richie Atutolu, the man who allegedly threw the appliance and was notorious for bad behaviour, was hired by contractor CPB in August 2023, according to a senior human resources expert at firm Ghella, Nicole Watson, who was contracted on the rail project.
She told the commission of inquiry examining the CFMEU there were two other concerns involving Atutolu outside the microwave incident raised with her that featured in her investigation.
One involved the man threatening to fight a worker on site, saying words to the effect of, “Righto you wanna mouth off, get out the front and let’s go,” before storming out the front of the site and eventually cooling down.
Another incident also involved verbal threats and swearing.
A second investigation involved another safety representative on the Cross River Rail site at Boggo Road, Adam Langford, who stopped a crane company from coming onsite to complete prescheduled work in November 2024.
Watson said when she called Langford to tell him the decision would be made in the new year, she was surprised by his answer.
“Ah Nicole, I’m surprised they’re getting me on this, I’ve done heaps worse than this,” Watson recalled Langford saying.
Both Atutulo and Langford were let go from the project on Watson’s recommendation.
In August 2023, Watson said she started receiving complaints about union behaviour at the Northern Portal of the Boggo Road site, where a man had been seriously injured after falling from scaffolding.
She recalled to the inquiry that workers were reaching out to say they were being threatened by union organisers.
“I was advised by one CFMEU organiser, [Matthew] Vonhoff, who was standing about a foot away from my face, that he knows who I am, he knows my bike, he knows my registration bumper, and that he was coming after me,” a worker said of an incident on August 8, 2024.
Another said the union threatened them with violence if they refused to sign a new pay deal.
“Some CFMEU guys [sic] basically threatened if he doesn’t sign onto the CFMEU EBA they were going to bash him, and that’s when they showed him the weapons they were carrying, which were knives, guns and bats,” they allegedly told Watson.
Another email detailed men in balaclavas armed with knives and a handgun at the gate to the project around that time.
Project safety boss says union weaponised safety notices
The health and safety manager for the company overseeing the Cross River Rail project was the last to take the stand this afternoon, and accused the union of using trumped up repeated safety notices to block them out of future work.
Graeme Silvester, CPB’s general manager for health and safety, said the contractor would often deny union representatives who did not have entry permits access to the site. They would then return with WHSQ workers, who would let them on site.
“They’d walk around site, sometimes for seven or eight hours a day, until they could find something wrong, and then we’d get a notice,” he said.
He said these types of notices were then used to claim the project was unsafe, citing one month in 2020 where a Cross River Rail project was given 56 notices.
“I have never heard of any project anywhere in Australia getting that many notices in a month,” Silvester said.
Microwave thrown by union delegate during Cross River Rail outburst
A CFMEU delegate allegedly threw a microwave in the break room at the major rail tunnel project in Brisbane – but there were other incidents on the Cross River Rail site viewed by a human resources investigation that recommended two union representatives be sacked.
Richie Atutolu, the man who allegedly threw the appliance and was notorious for bad behaviour, was hired by contractor CPB in August 2023, according to a senior human resources expert at firm Ghella, Nicole Watson, who was contracted on the rail project.
She told the commission of inquiry examining the CFMEU there were two other concerns involving Atutolu outside the microwave incident raised with her that featured in her investigation.
One involved the man threatening to fight a worker on site, saying words to the effect of, “Righto you wanna mouth off, get out the front and let’s go,” before storming out the front of the site and eventually cooling down.
Rowdy crowds at Cross River Rail sites when union denied entry
We’re back in Brisbane, with Nicole Watson, a Ghella HR adviser for the Cross River Rail, taking the stand.
She’s outlined a confrontation between union officials and project managers where she had assisted with a right of entry request for union officials at the Roma street work site in September 2024.
Union representatives Dean Mattas and Corey Taylor were told they had not filled out the paperwork correctly, and were asked to leave.
At the same time, a large group of workers inside the site had congregated, banging on the metal gates and chanting for the union representatives to be let in, Watson said.
“It was so loud that we did have to proceed five or so metres down the road so we could hear each other talk,” she said.
No safety process failures at Cross River Rail, contractor tells inquiry
The inquiry has broken for lunch, after the man in charge of construction on Cross River Rail was cross-examined by the CFMEU administrator.
Project director Andrew Large accepted that the union had an interest in ensuring safety on construction sites. He maintained he did not believe there were any safety process failures, despite the serious injury of a worker on scaffolding.
He was also grilled on the specifics of enterprise negotiations by Chris O’Grady KC, who is representing the CFMEU administrator.
Large was excused just after 1pm.
We’re already two-thirds of the way through, and just one of four witnesses on today’s list has so far taken the stand.
Cross River Rail didn’t need boosted safety figures despite serious injury, according to CPB
The safety representatives brought onto the Cross River Rail site after a serious injury were unnecessary, but the contractor was forced to hire them because the CFMEU had shut down work, the inquiry has heard.
Andrew Large, project director for contractor CPB, says the demand from Jade Ingham was unnecessary and the site already had appropriate safety processes.
“We needed to get up and running and therefore we had to accede to that … otherwise, potentially we would still be unable to commence work in an effective way,” he tells the inquiry.
“We had to make a call. We had to make a pragmatic decision, and on that basis, we decided to accept that.”
CFMEU representatives disrupt non-union figures on Cross River Rail build
The health and safety representatives brought on to the Cross River Rail site as part of a safety reset were attempting to “influence and potentially disrupt” non-CFMEU aligned subcontractors, the inquiry into the union has heard.
The man in charge of construction for the multibillion-dollar project – Project Director for contractor CPB, Andrew Large – has taken the stand, and is testifying on the high-profile shutdown of work in 2023 on the major Brisbane rail project.
In July of that year, a worker fell from scaffolding and was seriously injured, prompting the CFMEU to shut down parts of the site.
The inquiry was shown an email from ousted union leader Jade Ingham to a member of the project delivery authority making seven demands that needed to be met before work could recommence.
Inquiry to focus on safety reps on Cross River Rail building sites
The inquiry is under way, and has turned to the high-profile “safety reset” on Cross River Rail in 2023. The project director for contractor CPB, Andrew Large, is set to take the stand first.
Counsel assisting Edward Gisonda SC said the testimony would centre on negotiations for enterprise agreements, and the CFMEU’s demand that full-time health and safety reps be employed directly on the Cross River Rail site during the safety reset.
He said these representatives – who were on site from the end of August 2023 – had a disruptive impact on the public project.
Gisonda added the evidence would show then-leader Jade Ingham had put forward the 14 representatives himself and dictated which site they would go on.
Some of them had criminal records.
Who may be called to the stand today
The inquiry will return to the $9.8 billion Cross River Rail project today, and may call four new witnesses to give evidence.
Sanfilippo, contractor CPB’s general manager for Queensland and Papua New Guinea, has already taken the stand this week.
The contractor’s human resources manager, Matthew Papworth, and project director Andrew Large are also on this week’s list of witnesses.
Graeme Silvester, an executive general manager with CPB’s parent firm, CIMIC Group, may also appear, along with Nicole Watson, a senior HR figure at global civil construction firm Ghella.
The inquiry may not get through evidence from all four today. Additional time has been set aside on Friday if needed.
In yesterday’s hearing
On Wednesday, CPB general manager Vince Sanfilippo revealed at the inquiry he was told by ousted CFMEU leader Jade Ingham that the firm didn’t win work upgrading the Townsville University Hospital because it hadn’t worked with the union.
This came as part of a second day of evidence from the CPB figure detailing the firm’s difficulty with the union and Labor policy on the $9.8 billion Cross River Rail project and several others it bid for with varying success.
CPB industrial relations adviser Michael O’Brien then gave evidence about his experience with particular CFMEU figures on the rail project, including the aggressive and improper behaviour of some who were hired by the firm to appease the union in a “safety reset”.
A quick refresher on the road to this week’s public hearing block
Just jumping into the inquiry? Need a refresher on the ground covered so far?
Here’s a recap of the powerful probe’s work to date.
The Crisafulli government launched the $19.7 million inquiry after reporting by this masthead and 60 Minutes into criminality, corruption and misconduct in the union and sector nationwide.
Due to provide a final report by July 31, the inquiry under Commissioner Stuart Wood has also faced questions of its own amid government attacks against the union and former Labor government.
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