Wharfies at Qube's bulk and general ports plan to step up protected industrial action with bans and limitations this week in Melbourne, Port Kembla and Brisbane, while warning that strikes are imminent.
The HSU will today lodge a Federal Court bid to place its Victorian No 1 branch into administration, as embattled branch secretary Diana Asmar resists calls to stand down and seeks to turn the heat back on the union's national executive in another case heading to court tomorrow.
The High Court has refused to hear a major hospitality group's challenge to a finding that a FWC bench did not show bias when it raised concerns about an already-approved agreement ultimately revealed to have been voted up by three venue managers and a payroll employee not covered by it.
The MEU has opened up another front in its continuing battles with BHP, claiming in a new Federal Court case that the mining giant is breaching award provisions by failing to give its Operations Services in-house labour hire workforce Christmas and Boxing Day off and not seeking majority support for regular shifts in excess of 10 hours.
Newly-installed CFMEU construction division administrator Mark Irving KC has told members that "militancy in accordance with the [Fair Work] Act" is not unlawful and that the union will not make political donations or take "positions" at ALP conferences while he is in charge.
A court has awarded a former Laing O'Rourke manager more than $1.5 million in compensation and damages after finding his sacking, for allegedly intimidating property owners during the 2020 bushfire recovery effort, unlawfully interrupted his career trajectory.
NSW IR Minister Sophie Cotsis has told Parliament a bill to place the CFMEU construction and general division's State branch into administration for five years "strikes the balance" between not interfering in unions' important role and stamping out "corruption and gross misconduct".
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt has joined the HSU national executive in calling for the secretary of the union's Victoria No 1 branch, Diana Asmar, to stand aside pending the outcome of a FWC investigation into alleged financial irregularities.
The High Court has granted the ACCC special leave to challenge the full Federal Court's quashing of a finding that the CFMEU's construction division induced and had knowing involvement in major building company J Hutchinson's unlawful boycott of a non-union waterproofing subcontractor.
Efforts to install an administrator in the CFMEU's construction division branches have hit further speed humps in the NSW Industrial Court today, with counsel for the union claiming the Minns Government's application contains "fairly significant defects" that need to be corrected before the case can proceed.
