There has been a deadlock at Melbourne's West Gate tunnel construction. Contractors (John Holland and CPB Contractors) have switched off the tunnel boring machines and fired 137 workers, according to the Australian press. The dispute is between the contractors and the Victorian government over who is going to pick up the tab for the cleaning the contaminated soil at tunneling site.

Victorian government does not want to pay for the clean up, neither do the contractors. There is no doubt that both parties knew about the contamination prior to the start of the tunneling work. Then why does this discussion come up now? Is it because of an amateurish omission in tender documents by the government officials or a foul play of the John Holland and CPB Contractors?

It was only a few months ago that some 'news articles' appeared in Australian press about how much money the young tunnellers were making at West Gate (Young labourers working on Melbourne West Gate tunnel project are earning “six-figure salaries” — in 36 hours with zero overtime). Probably some honey pot advertorial designed by shiny boys and girls of P.R. agencies to attract workers to the West Gate tunnel construction. 

Then in one go, they ruthlessly fire the same workers that they attracted with such honeypot 'news articles'. People have relocated their families, their houses to make a living and only to be fired.

The workers are made to pay the price over this well known contaminated soil dispute between the state government and the contractors. They left their towns, maybe even their countries to come to Melbourne to do their tunneling work in good faith and either or both because of incompetent government and greedy contractors, they are now without jobs and likely with accumulated debts as a result of moving and setting up a new life.

I suspect the contractors (John Holland and CPB Contractors) maybe the guilty part because it was already a well known fact that "The development consortium responsible for building Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel has taken inadequate measures to protect workers and the public from toxic contaminants, including asbestos and perfluoralkyl substances (PFAs), according to the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU)".

And now the same contractors which got those P.R. edited "news" articles have immediately dumped the workers like disposable cups. Shame on them.