FWC GM Murray Furlong has begun prosecuting former senior CFMEU construction division Victorian branch officials - primarily president Rob Graauwmans - for allegedly authorising payment of more than $300,000 of union funds to printing companies to benefit ex-HSU leader Diana Asmar as she campaigned for re-election.
The Federal Court has pushed FWC general manager Murray Furlong's prosecution of Diana Asmar back to next month and asked to her to provide a neurologist's report to ascertain whether she "is capable of managing her own affairs in the proceeding".
FWC President Adam Hatcher has refused to stay the deregistration of one auditor and suspension of another found to fallen short in their duties to an embattled HSU branch, concluding that no weight should be given to their "desire for reputational repair" while their appeals are heard.
A new analysis argues CFMEU corruption is a response to declining union power after the deregulation of IR and the shift to decentralised wage-setting.
The first test case for the delegates' rights provisions legislated by the Albanese Government is set to be heard in the Federal Court in Brisbane next week.
As a new team prepares to take over the helm of the NTEU, the FWC has approved a rule change that will enable more members to vote in future elections, in a decision delayed by an administrative error and the union's request to postpone it to avoid irregularities.
The FWC has ruled that the MUA is not entitled to cover production operators at a West Australian saltworks because their duties are not tied closely enough to stevedoring, and refused to order the company to continue to include the union in bargaining.
A CFMEU construction division official once deemed remorseless for multiple breaches and who is currently defending two court cases has won a new entry permit, with administrator Michael Crosby telling the FWC that past leaders "continually" let the organiser down.
