"I think Mr Cain has been quite cowardly in the way he has conducted himself over the last week or so." Last week Mr Cain urged federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese to apologise for calling on the Victorian CFMMEU boss to be expelled from the party. On Monday night, WA Labor's State Executive narrowly endorsed a motion supporting calls for Mr Setka to be booted from Labor and calling for his resignation from the union. But Mr Cain was not at the meeting because he was attending his mother-in-law's funeral. "I don't know the reasons why he wasn't there, they might have been legitimate, but I think the time has come for Mr Cain to stop hiding and come out and explain himself and stop acting in a cowardly way," Mr McGowan said.

Mr Cain returned fire later on Tuesday. "I miss one executive meeting and I'm hearing he was calling me a coward for not being there," Mr Cain told WAtoday. I think Mr Cain has been quite cowardly in the way he has conducted himself over the last week or so. Premier Mark McGowan "Now, I have never walked away from my union principles in respect of anything. "I think it's a low shot, a very low pathetic statement for Mr McGowan to make and it just shows you the calibre of the man in respect of saying this about me when I was at my wife's mother's funeral.

"I think what it is, is the next thing if I'm any judge is that they'll be calling me a bully, because I do get up at executives and have my say, whether it's men or women, I have my say on union issues and we are becoming a power in the ALP and McGowan can see that." Mr Setka has been under pressure over a series of controversies, including allegations he disparaged domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty at a meeting Mr Cain attended. Mr Cain said the MUA had supported many initiatives to reduce domestic violence in the community and had donated significant funds to women's shelters. "In respect to Albanese, I was at the meeting and I would tell you that 99 per cent of the people at the meeting last week when this broke would have been supporting John Setka," Mr Cain said. "Albanese wasn't there, in fact I'm alarmed he would come out without going back to John Setka to ask him exactly what he said."

Mr Cain, who has previously been critical of Mr McGowan's government, let fly at the Premier. "I was the first one to come out and give McGowan a spray over the sacking of 80 seafarers, Australians; 80 jobs gone by BHP and there's McGowan protecting them and he puts in exploited foreign labour," he said. "We are very financial and we would put, as Johnny Setka said, millions and millions of dollars into the ALP and we're not walking away from that. "We expect working class policies. "Tell me what McGowan has ever done since he's been in for blue collar workers? Or for people who've died on the job?"

Mr Cain said the Premier had created a political headache by his failure to defend the hundreds of union members who supported Labor's campaign for office. Loading "Put it this way, I didn't see BHP or Shell or Alcoa standing on the polling booths handing how-to-vote cards out," he said. "I think it's pretty low of him. He's never once picked the phone up to me and called me a coward. "He's just got out to the press and you know what it is, and I'll be honest with you, he's a bully. He's the bully, not me.