Construction company John Holland has ended agreements with the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) following an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said John Holland and the New South Wales branch of the union had voluntarily terminated their agreements requiring the construction company to use only three specific labour hire businesses on two major infrastructure projects.
Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC was concerned the agreements prevented other labour hire businesses from competing for work on the projects.
She said the agreements were about the use of labour hire on the M1 Pacific Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace (the M1 Project) and M7–M12 integration project in New South Wales.
“Genuine competition relies on businesses making independent decisions, and suppliers competing vigorously to get work.”
Ms Cass-Gottlieb said in response to the ACCC’s concerns, John Holland had agreed not to make any agreements with unions in the future that would limit its choice of labour hire companies or create certain preferential arrangements.
She said John Holland had also committed to implementing a competition law compliance assessment when reviewing agreements with unions, and undertaking staff training on the application of competition law in industrial relations.
“We are pleased that John Holland and the CFMEU have addressed our competition concerns by voluntarily terminating the agreements in question following our investigation.”
