Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union
MEDIA RELEASE
5 November 2009
Wal King Should Lead Way on Mature Workers
Construction workers will today call on 65 year-old Leightons CEO Wal King to lead an industry push to
create more jobs for mature workers in the industry.
Speaking ahead of Leighton Holdings AGM in Sydney today, CFMEU Construction Division National
Secretary Dave Noonan said Mr King had a golden opportunity to stand up for his generation of
workers.
The CFMEU is campaigning to have quotas of mature age workers on major building projects.
“Mr King has worked for Leighton his whole career. The same cannot be said for hundreds of mature
age construction workers, who are thrown on the scrap heap like broken toys,” said Mr Noonan.
“A construction career should be for life, not one that ends when you turn 50. Mr King still has a job in
the construction industry, presumably because he makes a valued contribution to the company. So
should thousands of other workers his age,
“Many of the jobs once reserved for mature age workers – gatemen, traffic control, hoist driver, nipper
or peggie are now going to labour-hire – and often to backpackers,”
“Mr King should support the unions stand for mature age construction workers and take a lead on
tackling Australia’s demographic time bomb,” said Mr Noonan.
The CFMEU is calling on the board of Leighton Holdings to audit the number of mature age workers on
all of its projects including the $3.5 billion Victorian Desalination Plan and the $152 million Hunter rail
works.
The CFMEU Construction and General division said the percentage of mature-age workers in the
construction industry is below the share of older workers employed across the workforce.
For more information please call Dave Noonan 0418 508 762 or Gemma Swart (EMC) on 0414 873 291.
NEWS 
