The secretary of the Victorian Trades Hall Council has defended controversial comments made by the new boss of the ACTU.

But they’ve been condemned by the Premier.

Sally McManus has come under fire for saying she didn’t have a problem with workers breaking the law when it’s ‘unjust’, only hours after she was elected as ACTU secretary.

Her comments have been criticised by Daniel Andrews, as well as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

Luke Hilakari from the Trades Hall Council told Neil Mitchell unions had to stand up for workplace safety.

‘No one wants to break the law, Neil, as you pointed out, from time to time unions have breached the laws,’ he said. 

‘We are talking about technical breaches to civil law.

‘I don’t think it’s acceptable to break laws but sometimes when it comes to keeping our members safe, we need to do what we need to do.’

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