On 13 May, CFMEU Administrator Mark Irving demoted CFMEU ACT Branch Secretary Michael Hiscox and appointed former ACTU Chief of Staff Ben Davison as CFMEU ACT Executive Officer, effectively putting the CFMEU ACT Branch under administration. Until now the CFMEU in ACT and WA had remained largely untouched by administration. 

Mark Irving stated that he had “lost confidence” in ACT Branch Secretary Michael Hiscox, and that membership had declined by 18% causing a projected $500,000 loss for the branch next year. The CFMEU ACT Branch Committee of Management released a statement rejecting Irving’s claims. 

It is highly likely that Irving is responding to Michael Hiscox’s intervention in the High Court case seeking to challenge the legislation that put the CFMEU into administration, and his statement (co-authored with WA Branch Secretary Mick Buchan) against a proposed CFMEU National Office restructure. It makes sense to try to silence and destabilise critics.

Some, including former CFMEU Qld Branch Secretary Michael Ravbar, have claimed the CFMEU National Office restructure is centralisation by stealth, and trying to solidify power in the National Office, and shift resources away from branches. National Secretary Zach Smith denied this on the Concrete Gang radio show and said the restructure was about investment in the whole of the union. But the release of the restructure document has certainly spooked many, and made them question Smith’s intentions. 

The waters are getting increasingly muddy. Who the fuck has any idea what is going on? WhatsApp group chats are churning away in over drive, with claims, counterclaims, leaks and theories abounding. 

But the most important question is  - what are the rank and file going to do now? 

There was no successful intervention into the Federal Election campaign. In fact, one of the most vocal supporters of the CFMEU, Max Chandler-Mather, lost his seat. The High Court challenge awaits a decision, and how long members might wait, nobody knows. The “Trade Unions for Democracy Summit” has met twice, but is strictly limited to union bureaucrats, and I don’t think the alternative ACTU is going to happen any time soon. There have been public meetings, and rallies, and podcasts, and articles and memes, and videos on social media. Rank and file members are angry, but what’s the plan? One Facebook comment I read captures the mood: “Can't speak for everyone else. But I'm ready to go old school and show these muppets that we mean business.”

For a few days last year, the rank and file of the CFMEU proved that workers can defy industrial relation laws, strike, and not face disastrous consequences. Large demonstrations in August and September did not lead to thousands of workers being fined or losing their jobs. They marched, went to the pubs that afternoon, and back to work the next day. But since those early demonstrations, there has been little in the way of industrial push back on administration. 

Two questions remain for me: Without elected leadership, can rank and file CFMEU members put in the hard yards of organising to create a network capable of building enough support to defy the law and administration, and take strike action? And, what would that strike action need to look like to break administration?