Key witnesses in this week's collapsed criminal case against two Victorian CFMEU leaders told the Melbourne Magistrates Court that nobody mentioned the word "blackmail" to them until more than a year after a crucial meeting in April 2013.
Having only recently been given the all-clear over a heavily-scrutinised $75,000 payment while at the CEPU, former Unions Tasmania secretary and political aspirant Kevin Harkins will face a Federal Court judge next month as the ABCC pursues him over "abusive" entry breaches.
A year after its establishment, the Registered Organisations Commission has begun its first court case, seeking penalties against the CEPU for allegedly failing to keep an accurate list of its offices and office holders on numerous occasions over a period of more than two years.
An underpaying employer has spent a night in prison before winning a stay on a 12-month jail term imposed for defying a court order that froze his assets.
Boral chief executive Mike Kane is expected to be cross-examined next week by lawyers for Victorian CFMMEU leaders John Setka and Shaun Reardon, who today faced the first day of their committal hearing on blackmail charges in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
The Victorian Supreme Court has rejected an application by the CFMMEU to delay civil damages proceedings brought by the operator of Port of Melbourne's new "robo" terminal until its merger with the MUA and TCFU is bedded down.
In its pursuit of a former economics professor for allegedly paying his employees as little as $10 an hour, the FWO is also seeking an injunction to restrain him from future breaches.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has called for ASIC-style powers to ask a court to disqualify "repeat offenders" from running companies and avoiding backpay and penalties through phoenix company activity.
An FWO report released hot on the heels of Caltex's announcement that it will exit franchising has revealed non-compliance at 76% of audited sites and accuses the oil giant of contributing to breaches by failing to put effective systems in place, despite warnings.
