Mounted police advance on construction workers. Photo: Justin McManus A call went out to other city building sites this morning, union sources said, which resulted in hundreds of workers walking off the job and converging on the Grocon site. The location of the picket, in central Melbourne, makes it hard for police to tackle as there are so many workers nearby. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union state secretary Bill Oliver said the dispute was over union apparel being worn by workers at Grocon and safety issues. ‘‘This blockade is about the fundamental right that construction workers have for going to a job, being represented by a shop steward or safety representative on site, not to feel intimidated by Grocon management, and if they want to wear a union sticker on their hats then they’re entitled to do so,’’ he said. Grocon chief executive Daniel Grollo said the dispute was a test of the rule of law.

Protesters reportedly punched and hit police horses as they advanced on the picket line. Credit:Justine McManus ‘‘What’s occurring down there is an illegal blockade,’’ Mr Grollo said. ‘‘They’ve defied the courts; today they defied the police,’’ he said. ‘‘That is the height of intimidation and thuggery which you saw there this morning. None of those were Grocon workers. Quite frankly, I’m not sure where they came from.’’ Construction workers and police face off. Credit:Reader Garry Dalton The federal opposition and industry groups attacked the CFMEU, with the Master Builders Association of Victoria saying no one is above the law.

‘‘The lines of decency have well and truly been crossed and this blockade is now defying our courts and defying our police,’’ Master Builders deputy executive director Radley De Silva said. Federal opposition workplace relations spokesman Eric Abetz said that just months after the federal government abolished the Australian Building and Construction Commission, ‘‘the CFMEU bosses are back to their old tricks’’. Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten said the government did not condone violence. "We do not condone in any shape or form, regardless of who’s doing it, unlawful action," he told ABC Radio in Melbourne this morning. Mr Shorten said he had been speaking to all parties "without prejudice" and encouraging them to conciliate.

"I’m not going to give up trying to resolve this matter with the capacity and the tools I have," he said.

Brian Kruger, chief executive of Toll Holdings, the Melbourne-based logistics company mired in a stoush with the National Union of Workers at a Coles warehouse last month, called for stronger deterrents to be put in place to prevent unlawful strike action, including greater financial penalties and jail time.

Mr Kruger said he had no issue with workers taking protected industrial action and doing it in a lawful manner but said ugly confrontations between police and strikers at illegal pickets were unsustainable. ‘‘My issue was that if the people who were doing the wrong thing in the first place were facing more significant penalties, particularly in terms of fines or potential jail time, I don’t think we’d have the same issue we’ve got today,’’ Mr Kruger told The Age. ‘‘And that’s not what happens at the moment, they basically get taken away from the picket lines, probably get a kick up the backside and it’s sort of the extent of it.’’ Workers union members blocked Toll trucks from entering or leaving the Coles warehouse at Somerton last month, threatening to choke off supply to the supermarket’s stores. The dispute this morning saw construction workers clash with mounted police as officers advanced on the site, which has been blockaded by striking workers since last Wednesday.

Construction workers were seen lashing out at mounted police about 7am as officers advanced at the project near the corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth streets, the site of the former Myer store, with more than 300 construction workers and 200 police swarming to the area. There were reports that protesters were seen punching and hitting police horses as officers yelled at them to stop. The protest shut down traffic in the immediate area. The crowd of construction workers on Swanston Street had swelled to about 400 by 7.30am as CFMEU and Electrical Trades Union members from sites across the city joined the protest. The CFMEU wants better access to Grocon sites and to name shop stewards on its projects.

Grocon obtained a Supreme Court injunction last week banning key union organisers from being on the Lonsdale Street project, or at the company’s other Melbourne building sites. Some union organisers have ignored that court order, and will face fines. Police said today they would review footage of the clash between construction workers and officers before deciding whether to press charges.

They will also investigate the claims that horses were hit. Police were overwhelmed by the large number of protesters and four officers went down during the clash. Commander Rick Nugent said police sprayed the unionists with pepper spray as they surged forward, forcing them to the ground. ‘‘The capsicum spray was used at the time our members were being trampled by union members and feared for their safety,’’ he said. Construction workers told Fairfax they were protesting against the company bringing in interstate labour to reduce rates and conditions. Striking workers were shouting ‘‘scab’’ at workers they claimed were not union members, and who could be seen through a glass wall at the Grocon site.

Some protesters began dispersing and going back to their jobs around the city about 8.30am, but a picket line is expected to remain throughout the day. A union leader said through a microphone: ‘‘Go back and tell your boss that all this grief has been caused by Daniel Grollo.’’ Earlier tension had at one point evaporated, with a union leader even singing Happy Birthday to a television reporter. The crowd joined in. With Paul Millar, Judith Ireland and Philip Wen



