Right across Australia, the innovative solutions people are hard at it representing the industrial interests of workers.   Here's today's neatest correct entry from Seeker of Truth:

As has been revealed in TURC, the AWU signed up fake union members to bolster or keep up its numbers. It seems that the AMWU has another method of playing around with member numbers. It has created a division called Retired Members Division.

The names of members retiring from the workforce don't come off the AMWU books but are transferred to the Retired Members Division. You don't have to be a financial member to stay in the Members' Register either; being unfinancial Retired or Honorary Retired still keeps your name there.

The Retired Members Division has voting rights at branch level and the National Congress - from page 110 onwards

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/amwu/pages/315/attachments/original/1424166854/Rules_at_1_December_2014.pdf?1424166854

Some of these Retired Members are still politically active, involving themselves in Fair Go for Pensioners which lobbies governments. It looks like this entity which started in 2007 became incorporated in 2014 (as Fair Go for Pensioners Coalition Inc) has used the good name of Council of the Ageing (COTA) to help with its lobbying.

Retirees of Maritime Union of Australia are also involved.

http://www.fgfpcoalition.com/#!history/c15w

http://www.fgfpcoalition.com/#!aboutus/cjg9

Thank God the unions don't get to do things like work out who gets into Parliament or who becomes Prime Minister.   Imagine a country where you could corruptly control stuff like that!