The Australian Federal Police has set up a special operation to investigate allegations of criminal conduct in the construction industry and the CFMEU, and already has one new "priority" probe underway, after a July referral from then Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke.
FWC general manager Murray Furlong has referred to the AFP 12 of the almost 800 reports he has received about potentially unlawful conduct or activity by the CFMEU's construction division or its officers and is also seeking intelligence to identify whether any of 10 "leaders in exile" have flouted anti-avoidance provisions, he told a Senate Estimates hearing yesterday.
Long-serving Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association secretary Steve Purvinas says he has resigned to move on to "less stressful" pastures in the face of mounting opposition to his methods.
Sacked CFMEU construction division officials have told the High Court their constitutional challenge to Federal Government legislation placing union branches under administration is a stark reminder that "you cannot do indirectly what you are forbidden to do directly".
NSW public school teachers have voted up a three-year agreement that builds on a "breakthrough" deal last year that lifted wages by 4% in addition to big one-off rises for those at the top and bottom of pay scales.
An AMWU delegate sacked for allegedly outing non-union co-workers has been awarded the maximum available compensation after the FWC expressed surprise that his multinational employer's investigation could have been conducted "so badly".
More than 90% of federal public sector employees have not been trained in the use of artificial intelligence despite 41% knowing that it is already being used in their department or agency, a survey has found.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has followed up his recent promise of "genuine engagement" with road transport employers sweating on the TWU's minimum-standards test cases for gig workers and "last-mile" deliveries by asking the Road Transport Advisory Group for more details on consultation timeframes, who it might include in subcommittees and how it "proposes to conduct itself more generally".
FWC President Adam Hatcher has moved to reassure transport industry employers that the TWU's minimum-standards test cases for gig workers and "last-mile" deliveries will not be hijacked by an advisory group set up by Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt, promising "genuine engagement" and emphasising that the Commission retains control of the "deliberative processes".
