The CFMMEU has today challenged employer groups' standing to appeal the approval of its merger, arguing they are not sufficiently affected as they will be dealing with the same officials doing the same work to the same standards, only wearing different t-shirts.
The Federal Court has agreed to delay the trial of the AWU's bid to block the Registered Organisation Commission investigation that led to police raids on the union's offices last year.
Employer groups have failed in their bid to delay the March 27 CFMEU-MUA-TCFU amalgamation, but have taken solace from a senior FWC member's observation that their April 9 appeal to an FWC full bench "surmounts the fairly low bar of being arguable".
A Federal Court judge has upended the recently-adopted precept that unions are vicariously responsible for entry breaches by officials under the Fair Work Act's 'liabilities of bodies corporate' clause, declaring that a close examination of related cases reveals no support for the contention.
The Federal Circuit Court has levelled a $75,000 fine and is expected to order more than $25,000 in compensation against the director of a liquidated supermarkets enterprise who withheld about $450,000 in union dues, superannuation and Easter rates from more than 200 employees.
An Australia Post employee has failed in a Federal Court bid to win reinstatement after his summary dismissal for acting as a paid industrial advocate for his colleagues.
The TWU has been penalised more than $270,000 for failing to remove almost 21,000 unfinancial members from a state branch register over a 12-year period.
Requirements for bargaining representatives from this week to disclose financial benefits stemming from enterprise agreements before workers vote on them will make it easier to track the revenue the deals generate for unions, employers say.
Employers opposing the merger of the CFMEU, MUA and TCFU have warned the FWC that the unions would use their combined might to cripple the resource and construction industries, but they argue that in any case more than 45 pending penalty proceedings should legally disqualify them from amalgamating.
