The head of Victoria’s Trades Hall Council says the riots in the CBD over the past few days aren’t union-affiliated, merely people who are “afraid of needles” and “dressing up” as trade workers.

Luke Hilakari is the latest union official to slam the behaviour of those causing chaos in the CBD.

“This is not a union rally, this is a mob who are playing dress-up and are attempting to intimidate our whole city, and it’s just not on,” he told 3AW Breakfast.

He said the vaccination mandate for the construction sector was purely about workplace safety, just like wearing a hard hat on site or the raft of other occupational health and safety rules already followed on site.

“People need to roll up their sleeves and get the jab, just like you might wear a hard hat,” he said.

Press PLAY below to hear Luke Hilakari on 3AW

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