An employee's failure to tell her employer about an eight-hour freelance photoshoot on Channel 9's The Block did not justify its decision to issue her a formal warning, the FWC has ruled.
In a momentous ruling on unions' liability for officials' breaches, a full Federal Court has upheld a finding that the CFMMEU was "knowingly concerned" in organisers' refusal to show permits when entering a site to discuss safety issues.
The CFMMEU's mining and energy section has resolved today to retreat from its day-to-day involvement in the post-merger mega-union, alleging the construction division has "decided to simply use its numbers to bully and steamroll smaller divisions".
A full Federal Court has cleared the way for ROC to recommence probing historic AWU donations to GetUp! and ALP campaigns, holding it did not need to suspect breaches of financial probity in order to have reasonable grounds.
The Federal Court has penalised the CFMMEU and three construction division WA branch officials $180,000 for organising a half-day strike in 2018 over redundancy pay for Perth Airport rail link workers, 39 of whom also copped $4000 fines.
While union members tend to drive decisions to apply for pre-strike ballot orders and take protected action, the voting itself is less democratic, according to a book exploring how the regulatory environment can compromise democratic processes.
The CFMMEU says that raids by the AFP on its Sydney offices and other premises today involve "investigations under the Fair Work Act and related matters".
