Neil Mitchell has been left “staggered” by comments from ACTU honcho Sally McManus after she argued CFMEU workers use foul language because they haven’t been to university.

It comes after union protesters in Queensland threatened to beat their opponents with crowbars and “rape” their children.

While Ms McManus strongly condemned those comments, she said her members “weren’t plastic people” and hadn’t “learned how to talk perfectly” because they hadn’t “been to university.”

“This staggered me,” Neil Mitchell said.

“Plenty of people who’ve never been to university understand decency.

“Plenty of people with no education beyond primary school know that it’s unacceptable to make threats about raping children.

“Plenty of tradies walk around being tradies without being thugs and bullies.

“Does she really view the people she represents as being uneducated, foul-mouthed bullies and thugs?

“By the way, Sally McManus has got an arts degree – majoring in philosophy – which presumably taught her to be civilised and qualified her for absolutely nothing.”

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