Thousands of construction workers have staged a second round of mass rallies in Sydney and Melbourne, protesting the CFMEU administration. It comes as the government announced a meeting between ministers, unions and business next month - in an effort to reset relations. But union officials today vowed to keep fighting.
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00:00Tools down, fists and flags raised. A show of mass defiance for the second time
00:10in three weeks. Worksites fell silent as almost 30,000 construction
00:21workers raised their voices and walked off the job in Melbourne and Sydney.
00:28Once again protesting the government's forced administration of the CFMEU following allegations
00:34of corruption. The union does not loot administrators.
00:37So yeah, 100% I'm angry. What a go. Today officials vowed to draw a line in the
00:42sand. It means that we're not going to let any
00:46employer use administration to take wages and conditions backwards.
00:52It was a show of solidarity between unions and four ousted leaders, Darren Greenfield
00:57in New South Wales and John Setka in Victoria. There's a real mood of anger here today.
01:09Union officials say these members have had enough and today's enormous turnout puts politicians
01:16on notice. The government is standing firm, planning
01:19to meet with unions and businesses next month. The truth is we need a major reset in Australia's
01:26construction industry and we have a once in a generation opportunity to do it.
01:30The CFMEU's administrator has responded to a report which found the union is still in
01:35a cycle of lawlessness and infiltrated by bikies in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
01:42Those investigations will continue with coercive powers if needed and there'll be a new whistleblower
01:48service. Undo the new laws. Undo it. Take it away.
01:52We don't need it. We'll fix our union. Don't worry, we'll fix it.
01:56We don't need it. We'll fix our union. Don't worry, we'll fix it.