EastLink welcomed by those who built it

Australian Workers’ Union members who built the $2.5 billion EastLink project are filled with a sense of pride as the nation’s biggest road project opens to the public.

Testimony to respectful relationships in the workplace

"Victorian construction workers have clearly shown they can deliver a major project before schedule and under budget," Mr Melhem said.

"More importantly, the project set a high safety benchmark for the industry.

"All of this was achieved under a pre-WorkChoices enterprise agreement and with no involvement whatsoever from the Australian Building and Construction Commission, the Howard Government watchdog."

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AWU wants East-West tunnel built

"Without the East-West tunnel, the Eastern Freeway will turn into a congested car park and will defeat the purpose of EastLink," Mr Melhem said.

"We call on the State Government to adopt the Eddington report, and use the EastLink model of private public partnership to build the tunnel.

"We appreciate that Premier Brumby may cop some flak initially for approving the East-West tunnel, but we think future generations of Victorians will be very thankful that he made the tough choice."