A Federal Court judge has found it "may well be correct" that former Tasmanian union leaders Kevin Harkins and Nicole Wells – now a Tasmanian Industrial Commission member – received redundancy payouts in 2008 to which they were not entitled.
A court has refused to summarily dismiss a general protections claim instigated by two former CFMEU construction and general division NSW branch organisers who maintain they were driven out of their jobs for whistleblowing.
The tone around deadlocked negotiations over a new agreement at Parmalat's Echuca processing plant has shifted dramatically over the past 24 hours, both sides believing a resolution is near after agreeing to divide up and rework contentious clauses before reconvening early next week.
Despite ultimately having to arrest a key witness to give evidence on its behalf, the ABCC has failed to convince the Federal Court the CFMEU acted unlawfully by denying two members of a caulking company access to a building site in Melbourne.
A tribunal has ordered an employer to allow the CFMEU entry to a major freeway construction site to investigate suspected breaches of OHS laws amid claims of threats directed towards its "stressed and anxious" members.
The FWC has ordered the CFMEU's mining and energy division to stop inciting its members to ban overtime and take suspected sickies at AGL Energy's Loy Yang A power station.
The ABCC is seeking special leave from the High Court to seek to overturn a recent decision that stymied the watchdog's push to prohibit unions from paying fines imposed on officials for unlawful conduct.
The FWC has declined AGL's request for an order to stop what it suspects is industrial action by employees at its Loy Yang A power plant in Victoria after it was unable to secure enough employees to work overtime, leading to the company being unable to bring two of its four power generating units back online on the weekend.
More than 27% of public administration, defence, community services and utility workers belong to a union compared with less than 10% in mining and construction, while those of retirement age are significantly more likely to be members than those under 25, according to new research.
