The FWC says a proposed amalgamation of the Australian Hotels Association and the Accommodation Association of Australia will give the latter a "strong voice" within the merged employer body and held that only its members will have to vote on it in a ballot opening next month.
Union officials can't use their right to enter premises for discussions with members to gather signatures on petitions or "secure a commitment to a particular course of action in the future", the Federal Court has found, ruling in favour of an employer that blocked access for an organiser who sought workers' backing for a majority support determination.
As ROC staff await their transfer to the FWC, the watchdog has found that a former AEU ACT branch secretary did not improperly use his position, while it is also pursuing the AWU and a CFMMEU mining and energy division Queensland district leader in the Federal Court.
The ROC has found the IEU WA branch's former secretary appears to have benefited from spending union funds but has decided not to pursue the matter given the time, resources and cost it would require and the branch's desire to drop it.
The ROC has resolved to seek penalties against the AWU in the Federal Court, after an 18-month investigation concluded it had committed 27,000 breaches over nine years of obligations to keep accurate membership records and "significantly overstated" the real numbers.
The NTEU is set for a contested election for its key national full-time positions, against a backdrop of major university job losses in recent years, widespread investigations into wage theft and grassroots agitation over the extent of casual employment.
A lawyer overseeing a merger of the TWU and the Virgin pilots' union says a FWC finding that they are not amalgamating opens the way to a faster and more cost-effective process and might have implications for other unions with similar eligibility criteria.
The AWU has admitted to more than 24,000 historic contraventions of registered organisations' obligations to report their membership numbers, a Senate Estimates committee has heard.
CFMMEU mining and energy division Queensland district president Stephen Smyth has denied allegations that he misused his union credit card, maintaining that he repaid some items while others were legitimate work-related expenses.
The Federal Court has refused to grant an injunction against the RTBU's national executive hearing charges brought under the union rules of alleged "gross misbehaviour" by a Victorian-based official.
