A FWC presidential member has lambasted a union's legal team for leaving an illiterate member "high and dry" when deciding not to pursue a "more than arguable" dismissal challenge that ultimately led to reinstatement with full backpay.
The FWC's edginess over small-cohort deals has come to the fore again after a member exercised his discretion to allow unions to insert themselves in the approval process for an agreement voted up by three workers, despite having no standing as bargaining representatives.
The Federal Court has today restrained HSU Victorian No 1 branch secretary Diana Asmar - accused of illegitimate reimbursements and engaging in a cashback scheme - from performing her duties, clearing the way for her deputy, David Eden, to temporarily take up the role.
In a significant decision on the statutory hurdles facing unregistered enterprise unions applying for federal registration, a FWC full bench has confirmed that assessing an association's membership is confined to "actual flesh and blood members" rather than any prospective members allowed under its rules.
The FWC has renewed an MUA organiser's entry permit, finding his arrest at a rally opposing the war in Gaza relevant, but not enough to prevent him passing the fit and proper person test, and a "removed" CFMEU organiser has won a new permit after the old one's automatic cancellation.
The PSA has lost its challenge to a NSW IRC decision said to have "wide ranging" implications for union delegates using workplace emails to communicate with union lawyers, with a special constable facing dismissal for disclosing confidential information to inform its application for a new award.
The AMWU has after more than two years succeeded in gaining FWC approval to expand its eligibility rules so it can get a toehold in BHP's internal labour hire operation.
The AMWU claims in a bid to win coverage of extra classifications at a Queensland mineral field that the AWU has "ignored or failed" to properly service them and left it with the "full burden" of negotiating agreements on their behalf.
In a breakthrough for NSW fisheries officers seeking to carry capsicum spray while patrolling for poachers, the State IRC has refused to terminate work bans after the Department of Primary Industries failed to convince it they seriously risk depleting fish stocks.
Long-serving Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association secretary Steve Purvinas says he has resigned to move on to "less stressful" pastures in the face of mounting opposition to his methods.
