For decades gangland figure Mick Gatto has lurked around the construction industry representing builders and developers while doing covert deals with senior CFMEU figures. Typically, the quid pro quo was murky, but so close was the relationship between Gatto and disgraced former CFMEU Victoria leader John Setka that they called each other “brother” and in one text Gatto even told Setka, “I love ya”. Mick Gatto (left) and then-CFMEU leader John Setka in 2018. Credit: AAPThe problems at the CFMEU revealed by this masthead’s Building Bad investigation went far beyond the close friendship between Setka and Gatto, and involved the exposure of widespread union links to organised crime and bikies. But it’s a symbol of the rot that for so long gangland figure Gatto has had such a prominent role in the Victorian industry and enjoyed such good relations with senior CFMEU officials.