The construction union says the federal government's move to legislate against wage theft will be useless without a strong regulator.
CFMEU national construction secretary Dave Noonan describes the Australian Building and Construction Commission as "worse than useless" with a woeful track record when it come to policing the bad behaviour of employers in the construction industry.
"Dedicated laws and harsher penalties for wage theft will be worthless without a regulator that is up to the job of policing employers in the building industry," Mr Noonan said in a statement on Saturday.
"(Employers) repeatedly flout the law, exploit their workers and attack union officials when they try to stand up for our members."
CFMEU National Construction Secretary Dave Noonan. Source: AAP
He said while the ABCC trumpeted earlier that it had recovered $1 million in wages for workers since 2016, the CFMEU had recovered more that $59 million in unpaid wages for its members over the same period.
He said wage theft in the construction industry is rampant with an estimated $320 million in unpaid wages each year.
"The ABCC is a regulator that deliberately ignores its responsibilities," Mr Noonan said.
"It was born as a union-bashing organisation and has never outgrown it."
