Trade Unions are fundamentally about working people looking after each other.
In this era of individualism and greed, giving thought to your workmates' needs and problems is not exactly encouraged. Yet despite the "me" approach that was institutionalised as government policy through the Howard years and is projected everyday by the big business controlled popular media, basic Aussie working class culture of mateship and solidarity remains strong.
About the CFMEU (Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union)
The CFMEU and its forebears have a long and proud history of militant struggle to improve the lives of working families in the key industries where we operate. Our union has been a key pace setter in improving wages, conditions, safety and workplace democracy in Australia for much of our history.
Our campaigns have made Australia a better place to live for everyone.
The CFMEU looks after its own. No one can say we are slow or shy about protecting our members and our communities. Equally though, our members have made many great contributions through their union over the years to making the world a better place - through campaigning to get rid of the apartheid regime in South Africa, through the struggle to liberate East Timor, through active support over many years for world peace and disarmament and so many other big issues.
This legacy is something I want to build on in my time as National Secretary -but I need your help.
If militant trade unionism is an antidote to some of our society's ills, then it must also be stated that militant trade unionism can exist only with the active involvement of union members. I encourage you to take an interest in your union, to always be financial and to get involved.
With the pressure we all face on our time, active union involvement is one of the few avenues left to working people to help make the world a better place.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is Australia's main trade union in construction, forestry and forest products, mining and energy production.
The CFMEU is a progessive, militant and class struggle based trade union. It is also a rank and file focussed union that believes its responsibility is to build unionism in the workplace and to encourage workers to participate in the day to day affairs of the organisation. The CFMEU is a union which seeks to educate its membership and make them aware of the broader political forces that impact them at work and affect other aspects of their lives. We are a union that fights to build a better and fairer society.
The CFMEU has offices in all capital cities in Australia and in many major regional centres. The union has around 120,000 members and employs around 400 full time staff and officials.
The Principal Officers of the CFMEU comprise of the following:
National Secretary: John Sutton
National President: Tony Maher
Assistant National Secretary: Dave Noonan
Assistant National Secretary: Michael O'Connor
In between meetings of the National Conference and the National Executive the body responsible for the management of the union is the National Executive Committee (NEC).
The composition of the NEC is -
John Sutton
Lindsay Fraser
Ian Murray
Dave Noonan
Martin Kingham
Michael O'Connor
Albert Littler
Tom Watson
Alex Millar
Andrew Ferguson
Tony Maher
Jane Calvert
Bill Oliver
Andrew Vickers
Leo Skourdoumbis
You can find out more about the CFMEU by visiting our website at
www.cfmeu.net.au.