New union leader John Setka. Mr Setka has been convicted or fined on more than 40 occasions over the past three decades for actions involving his union. Last year the union brought the CBD to a standstill for more than two weeks at its picket of Grocon's Myer Emporium site. The move to readmit the CFMEU to the Socialist Left comes amid the union's dispute with building industry super fund CBUS, which has put Mr Andrews at odds with federal Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten. Mr Shorten has condemned the union's attempts to boycott CBUS for its ties to Grocon, saying industrial relations disputes should not be played out in the boardrooms of superannuation funds. The move to readmit the CFMEU came on New Year's Day and was a surprise to the SL leadership. "Setka rang up out of the blue, it was a complete shock," a senior Socialist Left figure said yesterday. He said that despite being an SL member, Mr Andrews was not consulted. The SL secretary Andrew Giles said his faction regarded the CFMEU as a Left union with which it "shared broader political values." Sally Finlay, a spokeswoman for Mr Andrews, said he had no comment. with Michelle Ainsworth