The FWC has issued a new, unconditional entry permit to the CFMEU construction and general division's Queensland leader, rejecting the building watchdog's argument that it should be withheld because of union conduct that has attracted more than $900,000 in fines during his eight years as "ringmaster".
The Federal Court has fined the CFMEU's mining and energy division $45,000 for taking adverse action against a former Pilbara organiser after the AWU complained that he was a "Trot" who was "bagging" the union.
Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party Senator Ricky Muir has supported penalty rates and touched on his former role as a CFMEU shop steward in his first speech to federal parliament, while Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has used the chamber to attack FWBC head Nigel Hadgkiss's employment history.
With Employment Minister Eric Abetz signalling he intends to cold-call, rather than advertise, to fill Fair Work Commission vacancies, the AMMA is today arguing it is people with employer backgrounds whose numbers he should be dialling.
Confirming this afternoon that he will run against ACTU secretary Dave Oliver at the peak body's May Congress, assistant secretary Tim Lyons said that unions needed to stop defining themselves by what they opposed and become the champion of the nation's working people.
Former HSU national secretary Craig Thomson is a free man today, but lighter in the pocket, after the Victorian County Court decided against sending him to prison for stealing $5,000 from the union.
Former HSU leader Craig Thomson has been warned that his three-month jail sentence could be extended if he fails in his appeal against convictions for 65 counts of theft and obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
The Federal Circuit Court has found the sole director of a delicatessen/cafe accessorily liable in an underpayment case spanning more than 30 years and four periods of industrial law.
