I was trying to work out which bits to bold, but geez .... the whole thing is a joke. http://www.news.com.au/business/com...sm-in-hsu-report/story-fnda1bsz-1226433503229 A REPORT into the disgraced Health Services Union (HSU) East branch has shown excessive claims on credit cards, misuse of union funds, levels of nepotism, and poor governance within the body representing lowly paid workers in the health sector. The final report by Ian Temby QC and accountant Dennis Robertson, leaked comprehensively overnight, found HSU East policies for obtaining goods and services involved few or no competitive tenders, much to the detriment of the workers. At least $20million of payments were made without tender. More than $5 million went directly to companies operated by union boss Michael Williamson and his wife, Julieanne. Julieanne Williamson was paid $384,625 for a clerical role archiving from 2005 to 2009 and up to $1.5 million was spent buying and renovating a warehouse used by their son Christopher, also an employee of the union. ''This was stark favouritism,'' the report said. Also, it found the governance of the union's operations and decisions were inadequate. Federal Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten said the HSU East branch was not a reflection of the trade union movement across Australia. "The vast majority of Australian trade unions, trade unionists, people representing trade unions, work very hard and their conduct is exemplary," he told ABC television last night. "I don't think a few rotten apples should be allowed to describe the whole labour movement in Australia." Former HSU East national general secretary Michael Williamson's final salary was around $395,000 a year, a 25 per cent increase on the previous year. Twelve HSU East officials were paid at least $130,000 in the year to September 2011. Mr Williamson also gained from his one-third share of United Edge, which provided information and technology services to the union. United Edge received payments from HSU East of $4,689,816.12 in total between April 22, 2008 and September 30, 2011, according to the accounting records for the union. The IT company invoiced monthly recurring payments of $96,488 as at June 2011, which Mr Temby said appeared "very high". It also paid no rent even though it was located in the HSU's offices in central Sydney until January 2012, while the company won the IT contract without the calling of any tenders. The union's supplier for printing, promotional goods and clothing, Access Focus, benefited from poor, "very inadequate" procurement practices. Access Focus supplied many goods, such as business cards, water bottles, beanies and membership books, at rates between 100 and 300 per cent more than industry prices. Mr Temby said the union had no idea if it was receiving value for money. "This is, to say the least, unsatisfactory," he said. There were no guidelines for the use of union credit cards or expense reimbursements, Mr Temby said. Spending on union credit cards currently on issue to officers averaged more than $600,000 a year over the past four years. And union credit cards used to obtain discount shopping gift cards for sale to members averaged bills of more than $1.1 million annually for the four years. Union officials had no requirement to document why money was spent on expenses such as entertainment, travel, taxis, accommodation, flowers, sundry purchases and so on, Mr Temby said. "In Robertson's 40 years of auditing practice, he has seen few systems with such a lack of formalised controls," he said. Kathy Jackson, HSU executive president, was noted in the report as the main source of the allegations against Mr Williamson and former union official and now suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson. The report said Mr Williamson's son, Christopher, used a union property for his own purposes, while the wife of the union boss, Julieanne Williamson, was reported to be on its payroll.
Good to see the unions looking after and protecting the rights of the workers. It is reassuring to have competent people with such integrity running the show. I wish my union was so diligent in looking out for my financial and personal rights ... oh wait, it is ... the Australian Government !!
Anyone who employs these morons, by way of payment of union fees, honestly has to question their own sanity.
Sometimes when I sit quietly in the evening I can hear a faint sound, a kind of whirring, grinding sound. I didn't know what it was, but finally I figured it out. It is the sound of paper shredders coming from union buildings all over the country.
Yeah I was reading this at lunch. Gawd it makes me mad. What is even worse is it was known so long ago by so many with the power to do something that Michael Williamson was dodgy. Seems he was renowned for getting mugged at ATM's right after he had withdrawn money from his own account. This necessitated him drawing money out on the union credit card. I mean once, sure, I can believe that. When it happens constantly you really have to wonder how and why he was allowed to get away with it. I believe in karma and I really hope in the case of these corrupt individuals that she is a right bitch.
Of course Bill is correct the thieving scum that is the Parliamentary Labour party is the tetra head that the electorate will soon lop off. I'm sure the labour movement is breaking down her door to thank her Kind Regards non recourse
Which state are you in? My theory is that State governments are the corruption branch of government, existing specifically to serve as a corruption interface layer between government and big developers and corporations.
Odd when you ask a room full of people not one said they voted for them? I'm yet to find one voter who did? :lol: me thinks there gone 'under ground' to avoid the stoning As for the above union....just unbelievable...who ever thought they never would have been caught :lol:
These sort of ravenous pigs in the trough are the same ilk as any of the immoral banksters and politician leeches on the public purse. However just as the occasional honest politician arrives so does the occasional union leader and to misquote Churchill "the only thing worse than capitalism with worker's unions, is capitalism without worker's unions." The modern version of 'unionism' and lack of moral hazard in its leaders is the problem, along with a long term anti-union campaign since the 90's has put unions on the nose. It never ceases to amaze me that the sheeplike public will constantly vote against their own best interests if the media tells them to for long enough. Personally I always paid union dues as a form of compulsory insurance against the depredations of my employers, both against myself and against workers with less bargaining power. I realise that most here are anti-union, and I understand why, but for mine, unions are all that stand between the unbridled exploitation of the industrial revolution and decent working conditions. Keep in mind that most unions have an extremely bloody history fighting against employer's murdering and brutalising their formation. Handing back those hard won rights to a class that would murder and brutalise again is just stupid. Just look how unionists are being treated in the developing world. It's an old, old story. But back to the greedy, immoral subject of this post. When the upper class has abandoned moral hazard it's not surprising that the lower classes also abandon it in an 'everyone for themselves' approach to their fellows. The fact that a supposed representative of mostly poor and underpaid workers fails fiduciary responsibility in such a way is doubly sad for morality in Australian public life.
I haven't seeny any suggestion that non payment of taxes was involved or that income was received but not declared. The personal expenditure on the credit cards is fine as far as the ATO is concerned so long as it was subject to FBT or classed as a non-deductible expense. Anything you've read or heard that suggests the ATO should have a look?
The 80 or so percent of workers in Australia that are not in unions seem to do fine without paying fees to a protection racket. If you try and hold a job in a unionised workplace and decline to be a member of the union you soon realise that it isn't the employer that you need protection from, it is from the union.
In my experience, the only workers who need protection from their employers are lazy or incompetent and don't deserve their job anyway. These workers are served well by the protection racket. Good workers are valued and looked after by their employers.
