Workers who help maintain critical infrastructure from the likes of QBuild, Queensland Health and Transport and Main Roads today marched on parliament demanding better conditions.

“The workers in these three state government industries are advocating across three state government sectors for a 36-hour working week,” CFMEU organiser Mitchell Thurlow said.

But time is running out to build the homes, hospitals and stadiums needed by Brisbane 2032.

Acting Premier Jarrod Bleijie said there were some “sobering” remarks in the recently re-established Productivity Commission’s latest report.

“For goodness’ sake, we had the lowest productivity on work sites in the country,” he said.

The report found productivity within the construction industry had dropped 9 per cent since 2018 and that the pipeline of works to be done has more than doubled in the past 4.5 years from $12 billion to $34.5 billion.

“If we are to deliver the infrastructure required for 2032 and beyond the legacy, we’re going to need productivity on work sites,” Bleijie said.

The commission is recommending permanently repealing the controversial best practice industry conditions laws, known as BPIC, and seeking more skilled workers from overseas to build the workforce.

But unions see this as a way of watering down hard-fought worker rights built over previous decades.

“In particular, [it would be] winding back Queensland’s workplace health and safety laws, our labour hire licensing laws, and going towards importing migrant labour that will be at risk of further exploitation,” Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King said.

Australian Workers’ Union Queensland branch secretary Stacey Schinnerl said the move would “inevitably” lead to lower wages and worker exploitation.

Labor Opposition Leader Steven Miles agrees.

“That is the agenda, that is the secret hidden agenda of this Productivity Commission review,” he said.