UPDATED - 20/2/13 - The AWU Scandal - orders against Wilson and Ors - The AWU Always Gets Its Money*
Friday, 19 October 2012
ORIGINAL POST 19 OCTOBER, 2012 - PRESENTED UNALTERED - READ THIS THEN LISTEN TO THE BLEWITT INTERVIEW OF TODAY 20/2/2013
It's hard to take Miss Gillard or some leaders in the union movement seriously.
Miss Gillard, Bill Shorten, Paul Howes and others have all responded (admittedly only after the Craig Thomson affair crossed the invisible line) to union malfeasance with comments like "each and every cent will be recovered and we won't rest until the crooks are in gaol.
So.
Here is the order of the Australian Industrial Relations Court that the redundancy payments handed over to Bruce Wilson, Ralph Blewitt and others be repaid to the union.
So far, so good. Bill Ludwig can point to his application and show some paperwork that says the union was going after them.
But did it? There was no action to recover the money. Both Wilson and Blewitt were easily contactable. The union took no further action to enforce the order of the court. Perhaps helpful lawyers reading this might be so good as to help us with a litany of remedies and enforcement mechanisms available to the union so as to recover its members money.
Had the union been serious about getting its money back there were many legal next steps available to it. Here is what happened to proceeding number 1296/95, very quietly. Note Bill's wording and keep in mind this was Bill's application to the court in the first place. Bill, with Con Sciacca as his lawyer says to the court, "It is not intended to serve this document on any other party". Bill is applying to the court asking it to dismiss his own application to that court for various orders. Quietly. Get the order to get the money back - proud and loud. Do nothing to get the dough from Wilson, then apply to have your own action dismissed and discontinued - not so much
LOUD VOICE - MEMBERS, I AM GOING AFTER THEM TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK
soft voice - i didn't really mean it your honour, just forget about it,let's call it quits, who knows what they might say if......
As always there is more coming.
* The statement of Paul Howes at the ACTU Congress implying that no rest breaks would be taken prior to the return of every cent of members money was not a guarantee of union action to recover members money. Nothing in the statement of Mr Howes should be relied on in any way as a binding offer of action on the part of Mr Howes or any other union official past or present to take any action or appropriate action in any way to commence, continue or be party to any proceedings that may have the effect of causing any or all monies owing to the union in trust for its members to be returned to the union, particularly if the party owing the money has something on someone.