Workers protest building industry practices

About 2,000 building workers have rallied in Brisbane's CBD demanding changes to the way the industry is run.

They also want better safety.

Workers carrying a coffin lead the march to the Prime Minister's Brisbane office.

There was another death at a Brisbane construction site yesterday when a concrete beam fell on scaffolding in Brisbane's south.

It is the 18th death in Queensland this year.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) state secretary Michael Ravbar says workers are frustrated.

"Safety's become a major problem in our industry and a couple of weeks ago we lost two in a row in one week and they've just had enough," he said.

"The union says the Australian Building and Construction Commission is treating workers unfairly and needs to be abolished.

Similar rallies are being held in Sydney and Melbourne.

Builders to walk off in Qld protest

More than 2,000 construction workers are expected to walk off Queensland job sites this morning to protest against workplace laws.

Workers will attend combined union rallies in Brisbane, Townsville and the Gold Coast to call for the former federal government's industrial legislation to be quashed.

CFMEU State Secretary Michael Ravbar says many builders feel Kevin Rudd has broken his pre-election promise to get rid of the laws.

"A lot of people voted for Rudd in the election. I mean we've got an industry which is the forth biggest employer over 900,000 construction workers around the country and they're just sick and tired of having different rights," he said.

"They just want a bit of fairness and a bit of equity back and they want to have the same rights as any other worker in this country.

"And unfortunately Rudd has failed to deliver on that."

Mr Ravbar says the laws are draconian and undemocratic.

"You don't have the right to take strike action and if you do you've got potential fines of $28,000 for individuals, $110,000 for unions. We have special laws that if you do things you don't have the right to silence," he said.

"Basically construction workers' civil rights are taken away from them."

Labor under fire over developer donations

The Queensland Opposition has accused the Labor Party of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in donations from construction companies, at the same time as the Government was deciding whether to award them contracts.

Electoral returns show Multiplex donated more than $11,000 in the days before it lodged a tender for Brisbane's controversial North Bank development.

It also gave $20,000 while its bid for the Gallery of Modern Art was under consideration.

The Labor Party denies the Government is being influenced by donations.

But Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg has said it is a conflict of interest.

"Now there's nothing illegal in what's happened here," he said.

"But it's certainly highly questionable when you have developers lining up to be the preferred tenderer, or actually win a contract, and giving donations on the eve of that tender being released."

Quote: Why isn't a 'bribe' illegal and corrupt? Highly qestionable too!