Minister’s office said contractor should handle CFMEU or lose work in Victoria, Big Build inquiry hears

The royal commission investigating the integrity of major public and civil infrastructure construction projects in Victoria heard a warning from a former Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority official that a major contractor faced the possibility of losing state work if it did not resolve an industrial dispute. The dispute involved a 2022 level crossing removal project at Gap Road in Sunbury, which was shut down by the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) due to safety concerns.

After appointing two of their own health and safety representatives and altering traffic and labor hire companies to CFMEU-aligned firms, the union eventually allowed the project to proceed. Evan Tattersall, a manager at the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority, informed former Vida official Peter Wilkinson that the minister's office had discussed the need for the project to continue.

Tattersall did not specify what action to take with this information. Wilkinson passed the warning to Joe Aygur, the general manager of the Rail Network Alliance. Stephen Villella, a delivery director at the site, recounted a meeting with the CFMEU that ended the dispute. Villella noted that workers were fearful of the union and refrained from attending work, indicating intimidation.

Despite Villella's disagreement with a former CFMEU organiser's claims about construction company officials' reluctance to work, the dispute was resolved, and work resumed normally.