Akron, a national civil construction company, which fell behind in payment late last year, has entered voluntary administration. This places hundreds of thousands of dollars in workers entitlements in jeopardy, but it could have been so much worse.

When problems began to emerge the CFMEU, with the support from the Land and Development Agency, ensured that most outstanding contracts were paid prior to Christmas. However, many Canberra businesses face a nervous wait to find out if they will receive payments that are due to them.

“The CFMEU calls on the ACT Government to ensure that these hard working small-businesses are not ruined by Akron’s collapse,” said Dean Hall, Secretary, CFMEU ACT Branch.

“The ACT Government must ensure that sub-contractors receive all the money that they are owed. Any delay in payment could see promising businesses go bust, taking jobs with them.

 “The ACT Government needs to reform its current procurement practices to ensure workers are not left out in the cold like this again. Direct payments to sub-contractors, which is common in Federal Government contracts, would be a great start. However, the only way to ensure that workers are paid their entitlements is to require proof that workers have been paid their wages and entitlements, before releasing payments to builders.

 “Requiring stronger proof of payment on government jobs - rather than simply a statutory declaration - does not create a large administrative burden on ACT small businesses but it does provide peace of mind for ACT workers,” Mr Hall said.

The CFMEU calls on the ACT Government to launch a full investigation into this corporate collapse to ensure that it does not happen again.
 
Authorised by Dean Hall, Secretary, CFMEU ACT Branch