Under-fire HSU branch leader Diana Asmar has been ordered not to use union funds to cover the costs of defending FWC allegations that she received "cashbacks" and unwarranted reimbursements, while also being directed to provide undertakings not to initiate any further reprisals against three officials who maintain that the branch no longer operates effectively.
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 FWC's clampdown on paid agents has begun after president Adam Hatcher accepted recommendations that include considering representation and disclosing fees before cases get out of the starting gates, while also highlighting "broad support" for new laws to establish a registration scheme featuring a fit and proper person test.
The FWC has given distribution giant Metcash and its on-hire labour providers six weeks to say whether they will oppose a SDA and UWU claim for same-job, same-pay orders locking in annual pay rises of up to $12,700.
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 FWC full bench has brought the hammer down on under-fire paid agent Employee Dismissals, refusing permission for it to represent any of 46 workers who have made unfair dismissal and general protections applications.
The Coalition will support passage of the Albanese Government's legislation clearing the way to appoint an administrator to the CFMEU's troubled construction division branches.
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt is holding parallel negotiations with the Greens and the Opposition in a bid to muster support to pass legislation clearing the way to appoint an administrator to the CFMEU's construction division.
The CFMEU construction division's Queensland branch has suffered multiple setbacks in its bargaining stoush with the head contractor of the state's $7 billion Cross River Rail project, with workers voting up a new deal put directly by the company and the FWC separately issuing two orders stopping unprotected industrial action.
