A former union official has told a royal commission that underworld figure Mick Gatto attended a meeting that was called after the official and a colleague were seriously assaulted at a construction site.
Paul Tzimas is the first witness associated with the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union to appear before the royal commission into the integrity of major public and civil infrastructure construction projects in Victoria.
Assault Details and Aftermath
Tzimas told the commission on Wednesday that he received a fractured ankle and a colleague was left with a broken eye socket, damage to his teeth, severe PTSD and the partial loss of his vision after they were assaulted by people linked to the builders and developers at a construction site.
No other details were given about where and when the assault occurred, but Tzimas agreed that he believed the people who assaulted him may have been linked to an outlaw bikie gang.
Gatto's Role and Gift
Tzimas, a former CFMEU official who left the union in January and is currently unemployed, told the commission that about a week after the assault a meeting was called between union officials and the builders, who also arranged for Gatto to attend. He said Gatto was known to work for developers and builders in order to resolve issues with their projects.
Tzimas said that Gatto later gifted him a gold bracelet which he initially refused. He agreed with counsel assisting Chris Carr that he first knocked back the gift as he knew it could be “perceived as inappropriate for someone in your position to receive a gift from someone on the other side of the fence”.
Tzimas also agreed with Carr that he knew the bracelet was not a “worthless trinket” but that after discussing with Gatto why he was being gifted it he decided to take it.
“Mick had expressed that - especially because I refused it - that it wasn’t his way of…trying to earn any favour.
“He said he had had a poor opinion of me as an official, he believed he probably judged me a bit harshly, and this was an olive branch so to speak, for people he considered a friend.
“I never wore it or anything.”
Tzimas said he was aware other union officials also received gold bracelets from Gatto.
Union Assistance and Bikie Links
Tzimas was also asked about a letter the CFMEU wrote on behalf of a man convicted of manslaughter who was seeking parole that confirmed he would be offered employment. He told the commission that he was unclear why the union assisted the man but said “his dad at the time was a union delegate…so that probably holds some sway as well”.
Carr also read the names of 15 men to Tzimas and asked whether all of them were union members and affiliated with bikie gangs. Tzimas agreed that 11 of them were.
Gap Road Project Focus
A level crossing removal project at Gap Road in Sunbury, north of Melbourne, is the focus of the commission’s November hearings. Tzimas attended the work site as part of union action which eventually halted construction.
He also attended a meeting between project managers and the union officials at CFMEU headquarters on 7 June 2022 that eventually resulted in work recommencing on the site. The commission has previously heard that in that meeting the union demanded that its own health and safety representative, and union affiliated traffic management and labour hire companies, had to be installed on the Gap Road project in order for work to resume.
The hearing before commissioner Christopher Kourakis continues.
