Century-old Restaurant and Catering Australia has applied to register as an employer organisation in an apparent attempt to differentiate itself from a rival peak body established by major industry figures last year.
The FWC has refused to refer legal questions on the construction of a Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act provision to the Federal Court before hearing the Victorian Ambulance Union's registration application.
A proposed rival union to the ANMF might not get to the starting line, after the established employee organisation foreshadowed that it will seek to have the newcomer's registration bid thrown out because it does not meet legislative requirements and has no reasonable prospect of success.
In a decision that highlights the primacy of open justice in the workplace tribunal, the FWC has rejected a bid to permanently suppress a proposed union's "rambling" and "intemperate" written submission that makes scandalous allegations against the ANMF and its leaders.
The FWC has suppressed a document filed by a proposed new nursing union in support of its registration, after the ANMF told the tribunal it contains "serious allegations of fraud and impropriety" against it and some officials.
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.
A nurse and one-time member of the ANMF Victorian branch council is seeking to register a rival union that claims it "will be the voice for nurses across Victoria".
The FWC is set to convene an initial hearing next week into the CFMEU manufacturing division's application to demerge, using legislative provisions passed in July that gained new urgency after then construction division leader John Setka's threats to derail Australian Football League projects.
A key Senate crossbench party, the Jacquie Lambie Network, has introduced legislation to enable the CFMEU's manufacturing division to proceed with its thwarted attempt to de-merge from the amalgamated union.
