Grappler Deep State Feller wrote on Nov 6^th, 2015 at 11:28pm:



Yep, no submission.

Maqqa wrote on Nov 6^th, 2015 at 11:16pm:


if memory serves me correct... Melham just carried on the work that Bull Shitten had already set up...

although, documentation may have been lost in the shredder... 

Bill Shorten himself can breath easier, even though his former union, his successor and some companies he dealt with all face the possibility of criminal charges:


The Commissioner investigating trade union corruption has been advised that Bill Shorten did not engage in any criminal or unlawful conduct.

No evidence was given proving Shorten broke the law as head of the Australian Workers Union. Yet this happened under his nose:

Mr Stoljar said a common theme in seven AWU Victoria case studies being probed by the commission was that secret payments were made by businesses to the union “in many cases” amid enterprise bargaining negotiations which “profoundly weakens the union’s position”.

Other themes running through the case studies were bogus invoices and inflated union memberships.

In some cases, workers, such as those employed by agricultural group Chiquita Mushrooms, ended up being worse off financially than they were previous employment agreements.

“The fact that a union has entered into an undisclosed arrangement during that bargaining process pursuant to which it receives significant sums from an employer is likely to inhibit the ability of the union vigorously to defend and prosecute its members’ interests in relation to that employer,’’ Mr Stoljar said.

He said it was not suggested that any AWU officials personally benefited from the conduct but “nevertheless the submissions are to the effect that the AWU Vic itself, and a number of officials, may have committed offences”.


And while Shorten may indeed have acted legally, did he act properly?


Mr Stoljar rejected Mr Shorten’s reasoning or signing away worker’s rights at cleaning company Cleanevent — which cost 5000-odd workers up to $400m in lost wages.

In 2004, under Mr Shorten, AWU Victoria entered an EBA which stripped workers of the company of nightime and weekend penalty rates which saw workers paid, in many cases, less than half of what they were entitled under the industry award.

Mr Shorten, who was the AWU Victoria general secretary from 1998 to 2007 and AWU National Secretary from 2001 to 2007, told the commission he had agreed to this arrangement because it was “fanciful in the real world” that cleaners were being paid award penalty rates.

In his submission, Mr Stoljar said there was “little evidence” to support that claim.

“There is little evidence that other employers in the industry were paying less than award rates, although that of course is always possible,” he said.

Mr Shorten is unlikely to face any fallout from his role in arranging for struggling construction firm Unibuilt to pay the wages of staffer Lance Wilson during his 2007 election campaign. However Mr Melhem may have broken AWU rules for writing off a debt Unibuilt owed to the union, the submissions state.


And:


While he does not call for charges against Mr Shorten, Mr Stoljar’s submission acknowledges Mr Shorten’s role as then Victorian AWU secretary in initial discussions over the idea of Thiess John Holland making payments to the union.