Union heavyweight John Setka has announced his retirement.

The long-time Construction, Forestry, Maritime and Energy Union boss told delegates on Thursday he would not nominate to run in elections later this year, a union spokesman confirmed.

Setka has been at the helm of the Victoria and Tasmania CFMEU for more than a decade, during which time he has been involved in a string of workplace controversies and a public breakdown of his marriage to Emma Walters.

Despite cementing himself as a highly contentious figure in Australia’s trade movement, Setka garnered a dedicated following and significant influence through his time in the top job.

Setka became branch secretary in 2012 after climbing through the ranks.

He made headlines when Tony Abbott called him a thug the same year and later failed in a defamation lawsuit against the then-opposition leader.

His leadership came into question in 2019 after Anthony Albanese, the then Labor Party leader, moved to expel him from the party over accusations he told colleagues anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty’s advocacy had led to men having fewer rights.

Setka rejected the allegations.

He fought his expulsion from the party in court but it ultimately went through in October 2019, months after he was convicted for harassing his now-estranged wife.

In 2019, the Australian Federal Police dropped an investigation into Setka over allegations he threatened senators, including Jacqui Lambie.

In November that year, he was cleared of being in contempt of parliament over the allegations.

The Federal Court in 2020 found Setka did not breach rules when he “poached” more than 200 members from a rival branch of the CFMMEU, but the union heavyweight later lost an appeal against the decision.

Three judges ordered Setka to refrain from encouraging or inducing members to transfer to his construction branch.

Melbourne’s CFMEU headquarters was the site of repeated protests during the COVID-19 pandemic, with demonstrators throwing bottles at Setka and smashing the office door down.

After one of the protests in 2021, Setka said demonstrators were not all CFMEU members and blamed “neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists” for hijacking the event.

Walters was in December 2023 found guilty of threatening to kill Setka in “out of the blue” comments to a private investigator.

-AAP