LABOR UNIONS – AUSTRALIA

Shorten may reappear at commission

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 25-Sep-15

The activities of the Australian Workers’ Union will come under further scrutiny by the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption. Royal commissioner Dyson Heydon has indicated that Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten – a former national secretary of the AWU – will not be required to appear before the inquiry again at this stage, but he has not ruled out asking Shorten to do so if this is deemed necessary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, THIESS JOHN HOLLAND, ACI GLASS PACKAGING, DOWNER EDI LIMITED – ASX DOW, UNIBUILT, CLEANEVENT, WINSLOW CONSTRUCTORS PTY LTD, CHIQUITA MUSHROOMS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

CFMEU safety breaches ‘neither isolated nor minor’

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Original article by Elizabeth Colman
The Australian – Page: 2 : 17-Sep-15

The construction union has been taken to court for failing to observe safety rules. Fair Work Building & Construction (FWBC) alleged in the Federal Circuit Court that union officials from the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union breached the safety rules on numerous occasions. FWBC director Nigel Hadgkiss will talk about the case at a safety conference on 17 September 2015.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FAIR WORK BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Top CFMEU official quits over IVF funding scandal

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 16-Sep-15

It has been revealed that Dave Hanna stepped down as national president of the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union after being linked to payments made by two subcontractors to finance IVF treatment for the partner of a union organiser. Hanna resigned in August 2015, and he is the subject of an investigation by the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption over an unrelated matter. He had cited health issues as the reason for his resignation.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, DB SCAFFOLDING AND RIGGING AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GLOBAL HR PTY LTD, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION CHARITY FOUNDATION

Court penalises CFMEU officials

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 11-Sep-15

The Federal Court of Australia has imposed fines on the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and two union officials for failing to comply with laws on the right of entry to building sites. The union must pay a penalty of $A225,000 while the officials must pay $A27,500 and $A20,000 respectively. The union is not allowed to reimburse the officials.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Super fund CEO ‘knew’ about leak

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 8-Sep-15

Cbus CEO David Atkin has been accused of being likely involved in the leaking of confidential information to the construction industry union. Jeremy Stoljar, counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption, also stated in a submission to royal commissioner Dyson Heydon that the relationship of Cbus with the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union was problematic and characterised by "serious cultural problems."

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING UNIONS’ SUPERANNUATION FUND, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, LIS-CON HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Aurizon wins fight over legacy perks

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 4-Sep-15

The Federal Court has upheld a Fair Work Commission ruling terminating perks and job protection clauses in a union agreement with Aurizon, Australia’s biggest rail freight operator. The agreement had been imposed on Aurizon in 2010 when the Bligh Government privatised Queensland Rail. The so-called legacy provisions banned forced redundancies, placed restrictions on hiring and rostering and allowed for free travel for 6,000 employees and their families.

CORPORATES
AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, AUSTRALIAN RAIL, TRAM AND BUS INDUSTRY UNION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Labor rallies as Heydon decides to stay

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Ewin Hannan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 1-Sep-15

Union leaders fighting the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption have been likened to corrupt police who tried to shut down the Fitzgerald Royal Commission in Queensland in the 1980s. Attorney-General George Brandis said the Australian Labor Party and the unions were throwing mud at the royal commission because they had much to fear. The head of the royal commission, Justice Dyson Heydon, has refused to recuse himself.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL, ACTU, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Kane rages at sideshow to ban

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Original article by
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 28-Aug-15

Boral CEO Mike Kane says the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption is "absolutely necessary" for the recovery of an efficient construction market in Australia. Claiming the campaign against the royal commission’s head, Justice Dyson Heydon, was an unneccessary distraction, Kane say union officials operate outside the law. Boral has not delivered concrete in the Melbourne CBD for more than two years because of bans imposed by the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union, which Boral is suing in the Victorian Supreme Court.

CORPORATES
BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, GROCON PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, ORICA LIMITED – ASX ORI, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP

Police raid CFMEU, Gatto role explored

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Original article by Ewin Hannan, Lucille Keen
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 27-Aug-15

The Canberra offices of the militant Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU) have been raided by Australian Federal Police, who seized computers as part of an extortion investigation. It follows evidence at the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance & Corruption and the arrest of two CFMEU officials. Meanwhile, the Victorian Supreme Court heard claims that Boral was told it should pay Mick Gatto $A100,000 to mediate its dispute with the union.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CANBERRA RAIDERS, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA

Senior CFMEU bosses face criminal charges

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Original article by Nick McKenzie, Ewin Hannan, Richard Baker, Nick Toscano
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 25-Aug-15

Officials of the militant Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union (CFMEU) are under police investigation in three states. National president Dave Hanna, who was also a vice-president of the Australian Labor Party in Queensland, has quit the union as police probe allegations that he received secret commissions. In Victoria, senior officials of the CFMEU’s construction division are facing allegations of blackmail, while in New South Wales Brian Parker, the state secretary, is being investigated after phone taps linked him to organised crime figure George Alex.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, VICTORIA POLICE, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE, QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, LIBERAL PARTY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION