A CFMMEU organiser ordered to pay $10,000 out of his own pocket for entry breaches has avoided having his permit withdrawn after the FWC found that doing so would be "punitive and nothing more".
The FWC has granted a first-time entry permit to a CFMMEU organiser with an extensive criminal past that includes assault, auto theft, trespass, breaching a restraining order, property damage and weapons convictions after hearing he turned his life around following a 10-month jail term in 2017.
The FWC has renewed the entry permit of a NSW Teachers Federation industrial officer despite finding her continued use of an expired one "shows both organisational and personal failing".
In what is believed to be the first interlocutory injunction to provide union entry for discussion purposes, the Federal Court has ordered a project head contractor to permit ETU organisers to access labour hire linesworkers on a 900km, $2.2 billion interstate power transmission interconnector.
The Federal Court has today reversed a judge's finding that a CFMMEU organiser directed a "disgusting" homophobic slur towards a construction project's safety advisor, while it also axed a personal payment order against him.
The FWC has reinstituted a CFMMEU official's entry rights after more than five years, accepting that he had put his history of foul-mouthed contraventions behind him since being elected to a leadership role and making "lifestyle" changes to reduce stress.
The FWC has accepted the rehabilitation of a CFMMEU organiser penalised for a perceived racial slur, issuing him with an entry permit three years after he surrendered his previous one.
A union has won a rare order allowing it to inspect the employee records of a business part-owned by a listed company in search of proof of underpayments.
The FWC has rejected the FWO's forceful arguments against renewing a union organiser's entry permit after weighing his history of transgressions, doubts over whether he paid a court-ordered personal fine and evidence that training had better equipped him to avoid potential future breaches.
A leading IR academic says a Federal Court ruling that takes a restrictive view of union rights to enter workplaces for discussions is "deeply concerning" and demonstrates a need for Parliament to consider new amendments and provide better guidance on interpretation.