McBurney also declined to comment when contacted.
Speaking in Sydney on Friday morning, Prime Minister Albanese said it was up to the AFL to decide who it employed after Setka earlier warned him to stay out of his dispute with the league.
“I know you seem to be very interested in this bloke, it is none of his business what occurs with the AFL, that is a matter for the AFL,” he said.
Asked if it was “thuggery” to try and unseat McBurney, Albanese said: “It is a matter for the AFL. John Setka is someone whose behaviour led me to expel him from the Labor Party.”
In an interview with Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday morning, Dillon said McBurney would be “staying at the AFL”, and even suggested he was in line for a promotion.
“He started in his role only quite recently, but he’s had a massive impact, and he’s been really good for the AFL and really good for the umpires,” Dillon said.
CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith has backed Setka’s stance and will discuss a national campaign at a union meeting next week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Contacted after Dillon’s interview, Setka said he would be next week seeking national support for the campaign, which he said also had the backing of the Victorian branches of the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, and the plumbers’ union.
He described Dillon as a “dickhead” and attacked his pedigree as a former student of the well-heeled Melbourne private school Xavier College. “It’s a rich little f—ing boys’ club, and they wouldn’t have a clue,” he said of AFL executives.
Burke said during a press conference in Sydney on Thursday that any organised work ban conducted outside a bargaining period would not be legally protected.
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University of Sydney labour law professor Shae McCrystal also said the plans to work to rule constituted unprotected industrial action, and could potentially amount to adverse action under the Fair Work Act, as well as a secondary boycott under consumer laws.
Setka said his members would continue to work overtime but “we won’t be going beyond the call of duty”, adding members couldn’t be made to work Sundays and rostered days off. He said action would be left up to members. “It will happen organically,” he said.
With Olivia Ireland