The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has launched an extraordinary offensive against the militant construction division of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU). Citing allegations aired on Nine Media’s “Building Bad” investigation linking Victorian officials to outlaw bikie gangs, Labor PM Anthony Albanese announced that his party would cut all ties with the CFMEU while also insisting that union leaders be replaced with external administrators while investigations are ongoing. The government argues that its hard-line stance is necessary to clean up the industry. But the Queensland and Northern Territory secretary of the union, Michael Ravbar, was closer to the mark when he argued that Labor is “opening the gates of hell for tens of thousands of workers.”

The Building Bad allegations are nothing new and largely consist of colorful phone recordings that journalists have stitched into a dramatic underworld narrative. For decades, property developers and their political allies have raised similar accusations, resulting in criminal probes, royal commissions, and the infamous Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), introduced under former Liberal PM John Howard. And while some degree of underworld connection is possible, to date, none of these measures have proved that underworld figures control the CFMEU. What they have done, however, is subject trade unionists to punitive fines and criminal charges for participating in wildcat strikes, organizing closed shops — and in some cases, for drinking cups of tea.

The CFMEU national secretary, Zach Smith, responded to the allegations by taking control of the Victorian branch, which is at the center of the scandal, to investigate “any credible allegations of wrongdoing,” without compromising the rights of CFMEU members. The prime minister, however, torpedoed Smith’s proposal and has threatened to introduce legislation to override the union’s objections if necessary. Most recently, Labor’s workplace relations minister Murray Watt has signaled that the government is open to setting up a joint federal and state police taskforce to investigate the union.