Lawyers for CFMEU construction and general division Victorian branch leaders John Setka and Shaun Reardon have asked the Victorian Supreme Court to quash blackmail charges brought against them over the Boral dispute.
The FWC has ruled that the NUW can rely on evidence given to the Heydon Royal Commission by former official Nick Belan in its defence of his unfair dismissal claim, because the Commission is not a court.
Key crossbench senator Nick Xenophon will push for a security of payments working group in return for supporting the Turnbull Government's legislation to re-establish the ABCC.
The Fair Work Commission's new investigation into the AWU's Victorian branch and its former secretary, Cesar Melhem, will extend to the notorious Cleanevent enterprise agreement.
The FWC is set to consider whether the NUW can rely on evidence provided to the Heydon Royal Commission to defend an unfair dismissal claim from the brother of former NSW branch secretary Derrick Belan.
New Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching has hailed her former boss at the HSU's Victoria No 1 branch, Diana Asmar, as "inspirational", while thanking other state union leaders for their support.
The Melbourne Magistrates Court has rejected an application to halt the committal hearings for blackmail charges against Victorian CFMEU leaders John Setka and Shaun Reardon.
The CFMEU construction and general division's Victorian branch spent $13.1 million on legal costs in the 12 months to the end of last year, up more than five-fold from $2.3 million in 2014.
The Fair Work Act is "effectively useless" to counter picketing, according to a leading employer-clientele barrister who laments that police often turn "a blind eye" to what would normally be considered criminal conduct, while the High Court's chief justice has canvassed the utility of comparative law in the workplace legal arena.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts says the party is inclined to back the ABCC and ROC bills, while it will also push for the federal government to get out of IR regulation and to beef-up the ACCC to police anti-competitive conduct by companies and unions.