The Master Plumbers Association of NSW (MPA) has strongly rejected the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ (ACTU) proposal for nationwide stop-work orders when temperatures reach 35°C, calling the idea impractical, inflexible and economically damaging.

MPA chief executive Nathaniel Smith says that worker safety remains a top priority, noting that heat stress is a genuine concern.

“This isn’t a safety policy, it’s an economic handbrake. At a time when Australia desperately needs more homes built, more infrastructure delivered and more apprentices trained, the ACTU is pushing a rule that deliberately shuts down work regardless of risk, controls or common sense. That is reckless,” he says.

Existing WHS laws already give workers the right to stop work if there is a genuine and immediate health risk. Employers are legally required to provide hydration, shade, rest breaks, task rotation, appropriate PPE and altered start times. Nathaniel says the idea that workers are unprotected unless everything stops at 35°C is false.

The MPA also highlights the economic impact of such policies: “Under CFMEU-style temperature and humidity thresholds, combined with RDOs and statutory holidays, January can deliver as few as five productive workdays on major construction projects. That outcome is neither sustainable nor replicable in NSW or nationally.”

The MPA advocates for practical, site-specific heat management plans based on real risk factors, including humidity, radiant heat, workload and available controls, rather than blanket temperature thresholds.

“At a time when the country needs productivity, skills and common sense more than ever, the unions have gone too far. Worker safety and productivity are not competing values, but reckless stop-work rules risk destroying both,” Nathaniel says.