Overall union membership might have fallen to as low as 10% if density had not stabilised across Australia's service and public sectors, new research has shown.
The Fair Work Commission has thrown out an unfair dismissal claim brought by a TNT Australia forklift driver who lied about working for a competitor while certified unfit for work and sending his employer a threatening letter, describing his evidence as a "farrago of lies".
A construction industry redundancy fund paid hardship payments to striking workers in 2012 despite objections from the scheme's employer directors that it was possibly illegal and morally wrong, the Heydon Royal Commission has heard.
The Fair Work Commission has granted right of entry permits to a union branch secretary who initially failed to disclose that his previous one had been suspended for three months after an altercation with a union member, and to an organiser who visited 90 sites after his last permit expired.
Requiring employees to sit in a "slow moving car park queue" and travel up to two hours a day to and from a new work location does not count as reasonable alternative employment, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in a decision to award six workers redundancy pay.
A Federal Circuit Court judge has slammed a barrister who said she was too "busy" to file written submissions in an adverse action case, criticising her conduct as "contemptuous" of his orders and "discourteous" to the court. He also said her involvement in another case might require investigation by "relevant authorities".
CFMEU officials in Queensland who pressured a crane company to contribute to the union's preferred redundancy fund might have engaged in a "criminal campaign" of extortion, the Heydon Royal Commission has been told.
A Federal Court full court has overturned a long service leave payment made under state law to an employee who was covered by a federal award when the Fair Work Act took effect.
The CPSU has described as "heavy handed and unnecessary" Treasury's unprecedented move to force all employees to apply for jobs in the deparment, which will be reduced by 40 as part of the process.
