In one of those paradoxes of politics, a government that has delivered in spades to the union movement finds itself in a bare-knuckle fight with the country’s most militant industrial organisation.
As government-imposed protections for gig workers and employees’ “right to disconnect” took effect from Monday, thousands of CFMEU members gathered at noisy rallies in the capital cities the following day, with placards and speakers denouncing Labor and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The CFMEU is raging about being routed by a government that had no option – after turning a blind eye for too long to known and suspected malfeasance – but to act strongly when the behaviour was documented in vivid and shocking detail in the media.
