The Federal Court has fined the CFMEU's construction and general division and five of its officials more than $150,000 for contravening right of entry laws, prompting FWBC director Nigel Hadgkiss to state that entry permits are a "privilege", and not a licence to act unlawfully.
The HSU has told the Federal Court that bank records it has obtained while pursuing its $700,000 civil claims against national secretary Kathy Jackson reveal that she has incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars of additional unauthorised spending, but the union might allow "other authorities" to pursue the sums on its behalf.
The MUA is using its industrial muscle to extract up to $1 million from employers for training funds that the Heydon Royal Commission acknowledges are legitimate, the inquiry heard today.
Victorian police have won access to about 290 documents held by law firm Slater & Gordon that relate to an alleged slush fund run by former AWU official Bruce Wilson in 1992.
A Fair Work Commission full bench has upheld a decision to refuse a Queensland building union official an entry permit, while a senior member has stayed the suspension of permits for 12 other officers.
A former CFMEU construction and general division organiser has told the Heydon Royal Commission this afternoon that one of the inquiry's witnesses pulled a gun on him when he entered a construction site to complain about safety standards.
The impact on public sector bargaining of the implied constitutional limitation on Commonwealth interference with state governments is still not well enough understood, according to long-serving CPSU Victoria secretary Karen Batt.
Employment Minister Eric Abetz says that no formal decision has been made to create an appeal jurisdiction for the Fair Work Commission, despite Prime Minister Tony Abbott flagging his personal support for the plan.
