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The rebooted CFMEU administration has sacked a top Victorian union official following allegations he used his powerful post to target another unionist who refused his instructions to step off an industry board.
Multiple construction industry sources confirmed that on Tuesday morning, CFMEU construction co-ordinator Nigel Davies was sacked by incoming administrator Michael Crosby and his freshly appointed Victorian branch chief Matthew MacGowan.
The move signals the start of a potentially vastly more aggressive phase of union reform, with Crosby having previously summarily sacked several NSW CFMEU organisers over allegations they were continuing to do the bidding of jailed and corrupt union boss Darren Greenfield.
It also highlights Crosby’s immense challenge tackling a union branch in Victoria that has been resistant to change and, in pockets, retains deep connections to purged union bosses such as John Setka.
Davies was sacked for his alleged mistreatment of another union figure, former CFMEU organiser Paolo Giumarra.
Davies is accused of improperly pressuring Giumarra to step off the board of LeavePlus, the organisation responsible for Victoria’s portable long service leave scheme.
Davies was seeking to replace Giumarra with Dave Noonan, a CFMEU veteran national secretary.
Davies had argued Giumarra should resign as Leave Plus director – where he was appointed as a building trades workers representative in July – because he had left his role as a CFMEU organiser to become a less powerful union delegate.
Davies was also concerned that Giumarra was keeping his director’s fees, rather than donating them back to the union.
The sources said that after Giumarra refused to leave his director’s post, Davies threatened to expose an alleged $5000 benefit that Giumarra had received from a hospitality venue, even though Giumarra had already repaid the money. Giumarra is not accused of wrongdoing.
Davies also allegedly had Giumarra removed from his union delegate’s role at a building company in a move a former CFMEU figure said was reminiscent of the ‘black bans’ Setka placed on unionists who challenged his leadership.
There is no suggestion by this masthead that Davies acted unlawfully on either occasion nor in fact improperly pressured Giumarra, only that his interactions with Giumarra caused the administration to lose faith in his leadership.
Crosby, a life-long union leader, was installed last week by the Fair Work Commission as the administrator of the corruption and crime-tainted CFMEU.
His appointment came after the sudden resignation of senior barrister Mark Irving KC, who was appointed in August 2024 by the Albanese government as part of its still ongoing effort to reform the CFMEU and the construction sector.
Prior to stepping into Irving’s all-powerful national CFMEU oversight role, Crosby had spent months aggressively cleaning out the CFMEU branch formerly led by jailed bribe-taker Darren Greenfield, while also publicly calling out suspected organised criminals on government projects.
Crosby’s elevation to administrator, along with his almost immediate move to remove Davies, highlights a shift in his attention to the recalcitrant Victorian CFMEU branch, which has been the most powerful in the country for decades.
Davies is the latest in a long line of cleanskin senior union figures placed in senior roles as part of the Albanese government’s union clean up, only to be removed amid controversy.
His sacking will once again raise questions of whether the Albanese government’s CFMEU reform agenda is failing in Victoria and whether Crosby will be able to clean up the beleaguered branch while retaining its industrial strength.
In Senate estimates this week, federal government officials said there were dozens of open and active investigations into allegations of corruption, theft and workplace relations breaches on large Victorian infrastructure projects.
In the days prior to his sacking, construction industry sources said Davies had caused significant waves in the industry by encouraging construction companies aligned with the CFMEU to help it pressure non-union firms via concrete slow pours and other potentially questionable union tactics.
Davies is also highly respected in the building industry for his construction sector experience and credibility – characteristics critics of Crosby insist that he lacks, despite his forty-plus years in the trade union movement.
Davies’ swift removal underscores an attribute that union insiders said Irving was also missing, but which Crosby has in surplus– decisiveness.
Crosby, Davies, Giumarra and Macgowan could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
More to come
Nick McKenzie is an Age investigative journalist who has three times been named the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of 20 Walkley Awards, including the Gold Walkley, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs and criminal justice.Connect via email.From our partners
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