The 270 members of the largest union at the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill have been urged to support a vote to leave the umbrella body.
At present, white and blue-collar workers at the plant are aligned with the Manufacturing Division of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime and Energy Union.
However, the union leaders are backing a split with the militant Construction Division.
In a memo to her Millicent Mill members, CFMEU Manufacturing Division president Denise Campbell Burns said it was “great news” that a decision would be made via a secret ballot.
“The Fair Work Commission has ordered the Australian Electoral Commission conduct a secret vote of members to decide whether the Manufacturing Division leaves the CFMMEU and becomes a standalone union,” Ms Campbell-Burns said.
If the ballot of the 10,000 Manufacturing Division members across Australia is successful, their new union will be called the Timber Footwear and Textile Union.
The mining union, with 21,000 members and $100m in assets, left the CFMEU at the end of 2023.
The de-merger ballot will open on February 24 and close on April 14.
