Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union

The Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) is Australia's largest union in the construction, forestry, maritime, textile, clothing and footwear production industries.

The CFMEU has offices in all capital cities in Australia and in many major regional centres with the national office of the union being in Melbourne. Before the 2018 merger, the CFMEU had an estimated 120,000 members and employed around 400 full-time staff and officials.

In March 2018, a two-year long process ended resulting in a merger between the old CFMEU, the Maritime Union of Australia and the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia. The new CFMEU had a membership of approximately 144,000, 1% of the Australian workforce, with combined assets of $310 million and annual revenue of approximately $146 million.

In July 2024, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, 60 Minutes and the Australian Financial Review published allegations of corruption within the Construction Division of the CFMEU's Victorian Branch. After the allegations were made, the CFMEU's Victorian Branch was placed under independent administration, the ACTU suspended its affiliation with the CFMEU's construction division in some states and the construction division's affiliation with some Labor state branches was suspended.

In August 2024, the government passed legislation which allowed Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to place all of the CFMEU's construction and general divisions under administration. Around 270 officials were told to vacate their offices.

In April 2025, it was reported that members of the Manufacturing Division had voted overwhelmingly to disaffiliate from the CFMEU and establish a new independent union; the Timber, Furnishing and Textiles Union (TFTU). This was widely seen as an attempt to distance workers in the forestry, clothing and footwear industries from the construction and general division of the CFMEU.