Electrical safety officer recounts terrifying picket-line brawl that spilled onto Brisbane streets
Sky Lewis, an electrical safety officer on the Cross River Rail project, described being grabbed and knocked down by CFMEU picketers during a May 1 brawl that erupted onto Noble Street in Dutton Park.
At a Queensland inquiry into the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), electrical safety officer Sky Lewis recounted being targeted by masked union members while attempting to access the Cross River Rail construction site in Dutton Park on May 1, 2024. Video evidence showed her being grabbed and pulled back, after which she fell and began crying, describing the experience as terrifying. Plant operator Kayne MacDonald observed the CFMEU members moving directly toward her, apparently to intimidate her and draw other workers into the confrontation.
Fellow laborer Soane Tuakalau said the sight of Lewis being assaulted triggered a protective response among male coworkers, while another worker, Fou Ah Lam, described a large man in a black hoodie pushing her. The clash quickly moved from the site entrance onto Noble Street, where non-involved workers attempted to halt traffic. The brawl follows ongoing industrial-relations tensions on the Cross River Rail project, heightened after a scaffolding worker suffered a serious fall, prompting strikes against contractor CPB. The inquiry expects to hear up to 30 witnesses in October.
Why it matters
The incident underscores rising labor violence on a key infrastructure project, raising safety and industrial-relations concerns.
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