I am high maintenance, a term I am proud of.
It was used often in my days as Union Delegate and Union official.
See then and now I believed,in my heart,unions existed as they always have, for the members only.
And went that extra yard to serve, often insulting a boss, by just going that little too far, in pursuit of fairness.
Few unions will ever be in the position the HSU is in today.
Most are far better than that, some of our greatest present and future politicians are from unions.
Being fair dinkum, liking the job and the members, being trusted.
Is the reward I cherish, still.
But after trust comes truth, I invited it, and got it, my words before asking a question.
ALWAYS started with *tell me what you think*, not what you think I want to hear*
I have 20 shirts, only the ones I bought, union shirts, and I want to tell you what unionists think about the HSU.
And unfortunately many unions as this story WRONGLY infects them.
They have no faith are hurt deeply.
My many trips to hospital see every nurse and aid tell horrible story's about how they feel.
Today the ACTU must show that horrible word SOLIDARITY a cover for hiding truth,but today one meaning,with every unionist in Australia.
My mates, every unionist in this country is my mate, today must show no one dare ever do this again.
I am unable,for solidarity's sake,hide the fact one leftist union may well find its self in this hole too.
Unions There Is a Difference.
Solidarity if used to cover union crime is purely evil.

I can only hope this afternoon the ACTU takes on board the ideas of anti unionists.
Unionists mostly know not all unions are so badly managed.
But too, within EVERY union some will throw mud.
It is not time to say let the courts handle this.
And not the time to put our heads in the sand.
Good to very good,officers of every union have struggled to counter this type of view of unions.
I have no doubt, and much pride, in the fact unions are not like this.
Have traveled a long and hard road to build a structure after past days of compulsory unionism.
Much more has to be done.
I see another thread talks of sleaze factor.
We, workers/unionists/Labor supporters, know that is pure bias, but it is up to us to remember we must see it never takes place without action to fix it, not cover it up.

Belly,

From where I stand, the unions are dinosaurs that have little to no relevance in today's society.

Belly

From your post you would seem to be lamenting the very death of integrity and principles. My understanding is that such things are not a birth rite. Indeed, they have no master, nor do they embrace a slick sales pitch. They are things held by those who see the great value they embody, and lost by those who would use them only for advantage.

Sadly, my view is that Labor has foregone both for the sake of staying in power.

Dear Belly,

We all know where SM stands. No surprises there.
And there are quite a few of his political
persuasion who believe that neither government
nor associations of working people (unions)
should be able to restrict the proper application of
capital (money) in the economy. People, in their view,
either sink or swim. And if they sink, well that's
too bad. Because according to their beliefs, welfare
is not good for business.

I don't believe that business has the right to get
whatever it wants - if its to the detriment of the
working people of this country. Neither, thankfully,
does our current government.

Of course unions need to be more sensitive to the
realities of modern economic conditions. As I've
stated in the past, sectarian attitudes and greed
serve the cause of labour badly. And we are in
critical times and Australia requires a re-assessment
of the relationship between labour and capital,
a re-assessment which takes into account the politics
of industrial democracy, profit and job sharing, and
long term planning, which allows for the proper
protection and preservation of our environment.

I'm going to sound like a broken record but what we
don't need is the "kick-the-worker-today-and take-the-
money tomorrow" attitude that comes from the Cold War
warriors who are currently at work around the place.

The only way in which the country can work properly is
for management and labour to co-operate with one another,
not condemn one another.

The sad truth is that condemnation is the only language
that some employers appear to understand. That's why unions
are as relevant today as they every were - if not more so.

Lexi thanks, fester yes I lament, but have faith the end is not just around the corner.
I think no worse crime exists than betrayal like this.
However no matter what damage I do to my image with in UNION/LABOR circles, story exists there.
Truth has value.
I know without doubt my union never ever could fall to such as this.
And that the very best,come from the union movement, Bill Shorten,one day to rebuild my party, Paul Howe's who one day may take his turn as PM.
Combet is another.
We too sadly, infect the ALP with drones from the union movement.
Only the best should serve .
I refuse, forever, to sit back and say yesterdays ways are forever.
Youth and change are the new leaders, and without fear we should except the changes that grow unions.
I am humbled, every time by stupid idiots who try to keep class warfare alive.
Even members, more importantly those we must try to make members, are unimpressed with that.
ACTU acted, it should have months ago,ALP should have put much more thought in to selecting its candidates.
NEVER let solidarity cover for such as this, to do so tells members they are unimportant.
SM Abbott ranting and raving is looking more than silly.
You know my thoughts on Gillard, if we ever get more dysfunctional leaders I do not want to be here to see them.

"""
I'm going to sound like a broken record but what we
don't need is the "kick-the-worker-today-and take-the-
money tomorrow" attitude that comes from the Cold War
warriors who are currently at work around the place.
"""

I wonder Lexi. When you do your shopping at Coles or Woolies, do you go through an actual cash register or do you use the new self pay sections?

Dear RM,

I don't shop at either Coles or Woolies.

I am very much aware some will never under stand the trade union movement.
And RM I never go via the self serve, no one should.
To some extent the reason some,dislike the trade union movement,and do not understand it,is the movement its self,or parts of it.
To defend the movement let me start with cold war warriors I prefer class warfare.
Yes some,within the heart of some unions,think and act in those terms.
One union selects very big men,who charge at every chance.
They seem unaware, most members are less than pleased with this.
Fact is unionism is not every day battles with unwilling bosses.
It is taking the hat around for a workers child with cancer.
Or running that raffle,using a jumper the local football team has signed.
Sending the sick visitor to hospitals, funerals.
Talking to local members about trees blinding motorists.
Midnight visits to roadworks to say Gday to traffic controllers.
Or talking to police or ministers about their safety.
It should not ever be about defending every thing said about unions with the thought what would they know?
Once the movement was an educator,we told our children about the reasons we exist.
We are changing,just like the ALP must, but we should remind people just what we do, even our enemy's.
Continued.

Lexi,

It's sad that your labor party is so bad and corrupt that you have to invent a boogie man in the coalition to validate your support.

And you say you base your opinions on facts?

At this point I always end up in trouble, from my side of the fence.
These remarks cover my view of both the Union movement and the ALP.
Progress, I demand it, because voters/members demand it.
If we take it for granted we are right, and no need to defend our selves exists, then we die, from self inflicted wounds.
HSU, we waited long enough,but do we understand SOME OF OUR VERY BEST want to know why?
Have we acted because it was the right thing to do.
Or because this issue was blowing up in our faces.
The Woman leader, the one from this union, I know nothing about her.
But while threats and such have been made to her,is she the workers hero for highlighting the grubby actions?
YES.
Remember our members, both groups, think for them selves.
And MOST importantly, those we need to keep us in power or afloat, are the ones we need to convince we act for justice.
HSU presents the union movement with an opportunity to remove the rust.
To highlight youth and those who would hold the job if the salary was halved.
The current feelings in this country about both party and unions will only be changed when we take head on the views we know are untrue.
To hold on to thoughts and ideas that our opponents feed on, that we are right always, is defeatism.
HSU is was and will be remembered as a betrayal of every thing we got from those who formed unions.
Those seats I once sat in,the ones my former workmates still do are to be left better than we found them, for tomorrows union members.

Belly, not sure why the ACTU should have acted now. My impression is that the report from Fair Work Australia has not yet been made public so unless I've misunderstood that they dont know the detail of what's in it.

It does seem from media reports as though the wrong doing extends to more than just Craig Thomson but again I've not worked out how much the media actually know.

I'm reminded of the mention a few months ago of one well known QLD union official using union funds to cover legal costs not related to the union on the reported basis that an attact on him was an attack on the union.http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/union-paid-legal-bills-of-senior-labor-mp-bill-ludwig/story-e6freuy9-1226130957539

Might be a bit more process in that instance than hiring a hooker but the mentality is not all that different.

Its never a good thing when private stuff gets mixed in with a public role.
http://www.integrity.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/189753/Case_Study-inappropriate_reimbursement_claims.pdf

R0bert

Belly,
Quote,"The Woman leader, the one from this union, I know nothing about her.
But while threats and such have been made to her,is she the workers hero for highlighting the grubby actions?
YES".

Agreed, then why was she treated the way she was? What does this tell us about the morality of the union and its members.

Is solidarity more important than supporting a person that does the right thing for the members. She had an obligation to, and acted, in the interests of the union members.

I do not wish to get you offside with your own, but would like more comments from you about this aspect.

I want this HSU scandal to keep on going.

This keeps on getting better and better for the coalition, as it slowly bakes Juliar and taints everything it touches with incompetence, corruption and sleaze.

The labor created and stacked FWA is looking both corrupt, incompetent and partisan, and should now be fair game for the coalition to scrap or change. The unions simply look grubby, and Labor and Juliar get tarred as corrupt and sleazy.

While this slowly grinds away with its weekly dose of bad grime for Labor, Juliar's message of "trust me" is received with scorn by the voters, and any hope of turning Labor's fortunes around are torpedoed.

Belly

The decline about Labor is also about performance. In Qld, Paul Lucas was Health Minister for a while. Cannot fault his character, but he made big stuff ups in his portfolio. But this I believe is a minor issue in State Labor's economic performance. with massive immigration in recent years the main cause of state debt. With the exception of Bob Carr, there seems to be denial that the huge infrastructure costs resultant from the growth has been a problem. Consequently Labor has been maligned as wasteful and incompetent.

Federally though, it is a rabble, with philosophical ideals overriding sound judgement. Ferguson, Smith, and the newly appointed Carr have the practicality, but frankly there is too much sewage in the pipes to allow any sensible decisions to be flushed through. Poor decisions and waste aside, the decision to allow mining companies to source foreign workers seems a betrayal of the union movement. Employment and education are a sound foundation for success. Yabbering about a skills shortage that requires foreign workers when it is apparent that many Australians are keen for the training and employment just makes people more aggravated.

RObert I know less than you, yes I however know about the QLD bloke, like him, but no he is quite wrong.
Union funds are for union activity's, a day will come when this is made clear.
Banjo, too late mate, but history may judge me better.
NOTHING is more important to me than UNIONISM/LABOR.
SOLIDARITY has become a filthy word.
If I stand on a street corner out side the yellow Arch's selling rotten fish, only those who love rotten fish are going to buy.
This ACTU action, in my view, had to happen, Tony Abbott is selling rotten fish, and some are buying it.
He is using this issue, and in truth he is not alone, union members in every union are watching this.
Rather than cover it up, it should be highlighted by the union movement.
It has now,but yes the woman was threatened, I do not think by every one, she should not have been.
My party and SOME UNIONS must fix these issues before we get to know about them.
Power brokers do not like me.
I except that.
But forever stand by my right to be me,the same bloke who recruited in places others could not.
AND it is now my view Labors reforms must be matched within the union movement.
Both are too important to be miss used by such as the 4 dirt bags in the HSU.
Lower costs in running unions, get national offices enforcing national rules, not multi branches multi heads all costing money.
And not separate rule or ways of working in every state or even the same state.
Banjo, trust me, unions are not all the same, this is evil, but an every day thing in business.

Fester mate, no not true leaches are putting adds in papers promising jobs in mines but it is mostly a fraud.
The jobs exist,but not for every one.
Please understand it was so 40 years ago, as a cane loco driver in QLD I watched mates recruited to go the Iron ore trains and be trained in WA, some are still there.
Howard too had imported workers I have serviced them from many country's south Africa, to Ireland.
We see dreamers who live in city's and have no skills telling them selves they can work and learn the skills ,health and safety alone keeps them out of those jobs.
And living in a donga is no fun for newbies,
We are getting skills training now more than ever.
J W Howard saw very few trained, re read the horror story's of his training .
It, considering the leaps and bounds by Labor is both wrong and unfare to charge them on this issue.

'Ferguson, Smith, and the newly appointed Carr have the practicality,'

Well I certainly hope Smith who I thought was a decent bloke has learnt from his cheap nasty political stunt with the armed forces that trashed a good man's reputation. People in the know would think a lot more of him if he swallowed his pride and apologised for his atrocious political point scoring that has cause him to lose the respect of many good soldiers.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/labor-sleeps-with-the-fishes-20120406-1wgtl.html
This link is like an arrow in my heart.
It is so for many reasons, first it is mostly true.
Second that word,once the marching tune I marched to, SOLIDARITY.
It no longer says unite and fight the good battle.
It today says cover your head,tell your self its a Tory lie, and march your party straight over the cliff.

We, both movements must confront, this truth, we fought work choices and won.
We then held every state and the Federal government.
We got lost, look at us now.
No we are not all bad, our policy's are far better, time, not much of it,will confirm our climate change actions the best, an achievement to be ours forever.
So much better, almost every thing we have done or plan to do, that Abbott's Conservatives and his self interested backers wealthy and influence but devoid of morals.
Yet we could not sell ten dollar notes for 5 cents.
Gillard seen by her cabinet as brilliant, has no such reputation here in voter land.
Did we read the $300.000 a year salary of some union heads?
Is that true.
We must not wait till every state has fallen, till ten years of opposition is in front of federal Labor.
Find some one unafraid of facing defeat, and reform first, both movements.
Before the roof falls on us not after.
My party and my life's companion unionism, must separate.
OH back Labor but not have half the votes not control.
One gets dirty both should not.
We must never see another health services union,scandal.
Bigger unions, less of them, more control/supervision, cut cost before raising members fees.

Runner! the actions of Smith are above reproach.
He rightly, has refrained from informing us of just how much your good man should have been ashamed of.
Further sex crimes there this week remind us women are still not safe in that place.
Had the woman been your daughter,you may have shared my pride in Smith and his actions
PS
Not a fan of him for other reasons.

Belly,
The treatment of the woman was endorsed by the union members. That means they do not care if their leaders are corrupt. They attack the messenger, who was looking after members interests. That says a lot about the morality of these unionists and taints members of other unions as well.

I find it surprising that you introduce Abbott into this conversation. Surely the opposition is right to raise matters of propriety of any MP and the government. It is called accountability. Similarly the NSW Opposition is right to raise issues related to the NSW Premier, re the Casino inquiry. Again accountability!

It seems the ones selling 'rotten fish' is the government, simply because it has dragged on for 3 years. Why allegations of fraud are handled by industry authority is a delaying tactic by government. It is a police matter. Three years to investigate is a joke. It implicates the government as an accessary, after the fact.

There sure is a bad smell around the HSU, its members, the government and unions generally, that will hang around for a long time.

You have been let down badly by both your party and the unions. I feel sorry that you have to witness this.

Too right, Belly. JWH's education and training record was very shoddy, and his pilfering of foreign skilled workers was parasitic. But then Rudd came in and took the pilfering to a new level. State balance sheets across the nation are well in the red because of this idiocy.

Recently a co-worker's son finished an apprenticeship and went off to work in the mines. That is the way I would prefer it to happen, but it requires government to subsidise the apprenticeships. It would be interesting to compare the training costs for young Australians with the infrastructure cost of importing skilled workers: I think it may be more cost effective to source the workers locally.

<time, not much of it,will confirm our climate change actions the best, an achievement to be ours forever.>

Ever heard of OIF, Belly? It is heresy for the Greens.

http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/3885

The appalling thing here is that the scientific research has been stopped on ideological grounds. OIF has the potential to capture carbon, make fisheries more productive, and perhaps even increase rainfall and the earth's albedo. OIF could thus be economically beneficial, making it unique as a CO2 and climate mitigation measure. But none of this can be determined because of the unscientific opposition of green groups.

Following the dogma of green high priests like ET Bob limits the solution to barring any technological advance since 1750, excluding solar panels and windmills, and including deodorant. Such a dogmatic approach is very unlikely to deliver a useful solution.

Belly,

The unions themselves have been far from pro active on this issue. The extent of Craig Thomson's corruption has been publicly available for years, and only now that the fall out from the union cover up is starting to smear the union "brand" that the ACTU has severed ties with the HSU.

This affair is an indictment on the entire union movement too.

All three posts seem to fail to under stand mine.
Fester first, apprentices have always gone to better paddocks after finishing,to learn new and different skills.
Labor trains more but the truth is privatization is killing training.
Government once trained the majority and they,as is good, got head hunted by private firms, it is them who are not training.
SM sorry you make me grin.
Banjo, not the whole but far too many.
OK lets be open, do not feel sorry for me,I have been damaged, one day will say how, BECAUSE MY UNION COMES FIRST.
My posts are meant, the thread is meant, to say let both groups reform, IT IS NOT GOOD FOR LABOR/UNIONS to be so closely linked!
Both should stand on their own, in a year of reform, a year we face another 11/11 as in 1975, we turn our backs on middle Australia.
HSU stinks, it reeks, it is foulest by its betrayal of the rank and file.
An awful thing.
Union members stand in line to say they disapprove of this shambles.
This is an opportunity,to restore that word, not hide behind it,solidarity.
Sit this bloke in the other benches open up the report re invent that union and have blood on the sword.
Take no prisoners ,those guilty are the enemy's of every trade unionist and the ALP
Act or face 23 years on the wrong side of the house, how will putting Abbott in the seat help us?
Workers united? it is far past time for words, leadership is needed now.

Belly,
Glad to see you stand on principle, yeah there can be no compromise.
I have been in similar situation as the woman and it is not good, but if one has principle it has to be done. The sooner the better.

I agree about apprentices. I can recall governments bragging about the number of apprentices they had each year. Water board and Public works and so on. All gone now.

Governments and private enterprise both have neglected work training for years. I remember Telstra closing linesmen training schools (3) in NSW, just to make the bottom line look better before privaatising. cheaper to imprt labour than train our own, but short sighted. Once I could call local Telsta about a fault and tell him where I thought it was. Now get connected to Bombay, cant speak english let alone know the area. Going backwards.

Banjo yes, on both issues.
It comes down to this, in 1975, I a union delegate, was offered an officials job.
Again in 1985, then again in 1999.
Each time I ,union to the bone, said no.
I did not think I was good enough.
I said yes in about 2002, and proved my self wrong.
Each time the offer was from my union.
After it became heart breaking, but imposable to work for a workplace BULLY, my last boss.
I was offered a job in that other union, fit for it, able even with my current health issues too make it work well.
I stuck by my life time view, more harm comes via radical unionism than good.
People who never worked on the factory floors rarely understand.
But the respect in the words of a member in trouble is gold.
ONLY THE BEST SHOULD SERVE
And what is in your heart not your pocket that matters.
Hiding the truth, is far harsher than being the first to tell members about it.
Unions need no lie just honesty, but never charge them all with things like this.

My detractors on the Conservative side do not concern me.
It is those on my side who play the Conservative game so well who do.
Abbott is not the first Liberal Leader who farmed half truths and negativity.
It is a standard issue tool in the once Liberal kit.
They cover their bad boys much more professionally than Labor.
Former Ministers,Even Deputy Prime Ministers, quietly slip out of politics,to save being held accountable,for actions no less than this.
We, Labor/Unions, lack the professionalism to make such as these disappear.
On my side, fueled by thoughts of a solidarity not earned ,to the people involved,the party union, and in an effort to hide truth.
We fail.
We fail to remember why the union and party exists,those who seek to cover not fix,are traitors.
We should be talking about other things.
Abbott should be telling us why Nanny's will not be an impost on the tax payer,why he wants those on $150.000 a year to get baby support.
He should tell us the costs of his carbon capture plans, and who pays it.
We should be debating the over all costs of boat refugees, and what truly is the answer.
I want to know is Abbott truly going to risk our relation ship with Indonesia?
HSU is and always will be wrong, feeding on the membership fees is and always will be wrong.
I earned the right to expect better in a country hamlet Yanderra, holding my dads hand at age 8 as he handed out Labor HTV spit running down his face from a Tory who was to regretted it after.
Labor has a product that sells its self unions too, HSU is an anchor to both, let it sink. face the truth.
We need no rats in our ranks, Conservatives are breeding them for us.

If my fellow travelers can not see the need to never let this take place again I am lost.
Did we know about this man? before selecting him?
Is union leadership all it takes to get a seat?, even over better candidates?
It is not our board rooms that are hurt by this.
Out in the Field, both groups,we are hurting.
Some unionists will forever,even without need, be unsure of their union.
Within the Labor branches,far too sticky and trained to focus on our enemy, not those we want to come,and refresh our party.
The claims against Torys will be backed.
But my highlighting out faults will brand me.
WHY?
Is Labor not better than that, where is the reform?
I know,with certainty,we are going to reform and regrow.
It is A very deep hole we inhabit, by far the better policy's.
And zero ability to sell them.
Except to our selves.
Do we uncover our faults, or are we forever to subject our selves to Conservatives and grubby Medea doing it for us.
The rich powerful, and self interested feed on us.
We must understand this is 1975 and we are helping our own defeats.
Take this on board, press not all but most are activly campaigning for Conservatives.
They did in 1974/75.
If this had been Conservative scandal, we would see it on page ten very little of it.
In such a world solidarity is not about feeding our enemy's,those we protect here are rats in out ranks.

Belly

If your example were the standard, Labor would not have a problem. My beef is that both major parties have engaged in far too high a rate of population growth. Ultimately the cost of this policy has impacted on training and welfare programs. With the resultant revenue shortfalls, management of resources becomes the key selection criterion for government. Labor's wastage on ER, NBN , CT, and boat people policy to name the majors, instead of concentrating on core values, has greatly damaged the cause. The Craig Thompson affair is just a side show, and would not have blown up like it has without all the other stuff ups.

Fester I agree with most of that.
Once, believe me it is true, we bragged about our following the Westminster system.
We at least then had a bottom, we no longer have.
Fragmentation, is not helping our politics.
I believe, truly, we should aim up, return to accountability in politics and in life.
I do not see some of your stuff ups,climate is not one, but gee why lie?
I still do not know why they dumped Rudd, mid first term.
And in fact keep Gillard on lower polling.
Robo, NSW opposition leader former head of Unions NSW is quite right, he shares my view and is calling for the sacking of this unions head.
So he should,goodonya bloke!
Self interest is seeing the wrong type enter politics, on both sides.
Hung Parliament is choking Democracy.
Abbott would have done no better had he been installed.
You may expect, I do, a greens blood bath next election.
But if Labor has not cleaned much up, including the Rudd painful event,greens will be once again a refugee.
For anti Labor but not conservative votes.
Conservatives will win.
Unless Labor stops leading with its chin.
Good men and women ,now is the time to be heard stand for honesty accountability and we are still a chance.

As the thread settles in to the mud, as action now takes place on all fronts I have something to say.
First to the Australian Union Movement.
I am proud of a small but important part I played,along with my ex work mates,and the excellent roll played by the man I called WORK PLACE BULLY
In removing, *instantly*, some one who committed one tenth of one percent of what this issue is about.
It always has been so,in my union.
You gentlemen sell a product that by its very existance says fairness, equity, fair go mate!
And you, as I do, know,some within our membership, feed on these issues.
We are better than that.
We gave birth to the ALP, at a time workers stood alone,it is the actions of those who came before us that gave us todays lifestyle income home ownership.
Can you not see,this union,its leadership, acted as badly toward its members as any boss?
Convict me, for caring, but if we are not better than this?
Till I die I will be proud of my service,and that my members trusted me,and my union.
Aim up gents and Lady's be proud to be union.
Our past our present our great future.

Now to my party the ALP.
I never will dog on my party.
But turning my back pretending this never took place is in my view dogging.
Once slipper came over we could have put this bloke on the middle bench's.
He would still vote for us,but at least we would have looked a little better.
I know, even understand why, factional heads will think me traitor.
I know some Branch's put dills in the house, and that stars are hand picked for seats, that this seat was extremely important.
WHY pick this bloke?
Who next? are we the only true alternative to Liberal government, so unable to find good candidates from our branches?
Is it time for one vote one value within the party?
Why do unions hold the strings?
Are we better for selecting the best or must we reward in giving seats?
Julie Gillard did not lie,she had no clue us too, a hung Parliament was going to be the result.
Tell Australia she did not.
Then why would they not think Thomson is unfit for Parliament.
Rudd.
You consider it a dirty word, but why is it we still do not know the full truth?
Why do Australians still want him more than Gillard and Abbott?
My party is confronted by oblivion,no not death, just 1975.
Do we stand back and let it happen?
Or just maybe recommit to change to accountability to being the best?
I want power brokers to put party not factions first.
The very left can not turn us from middle Australia, but we need action.

Gough. What a character, and what a legacy. At the time it all seemed like total chaos and disaster, but afterwards I looked back and saw a great many reforms and achievements. Perhaps I will look back on the current administration and see more sense in the direction taken. Putting Carr in the Senate was a good move I think. He had an impossible job as Premier.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/hsu-boss-put-30k-a-month-on-amex-20120410-1wn1n.html
It will be so Fester.
But first?
Let us look at my link.
Yes painful.
But UNIONS and Labor must consume it,see it openly.
Feel as I do this morning the filth , as if I have plunged in to a sewage out fall.
About now warn and weary Hospital workers are nearly bound for home.
Some to briefly see kids and partner before they leave for school and work.
A consideration must be made later in the week.
Can they after paying the bills take the kids to Macas?
Here today above is a question.
Are unions able to draw a line under this?
I think yes but less unions bigger unions more accountable unions
And much more focus on members money how every cent is spent.
I this morning am shattered knowing a very few will not want an end to rorting members funds or changes that slim down over heads
It is time to face our past and address our future.

Belly,
Yeah, I read the story, it does not surprize but still disgusts. I trust that these fraudsters will be brought to book.

Yesterday, the two major Sydney papers both had stories about whistle blower, Cathy Jackson, so looks like this saga will continue.

Assuming the articles are correct, if what Jackson found when she took over as secretary and did nothing, she would become party to the fraud. Many do not know that if one is aware of or suspects criminal activity and does not report it, then they themselves can be charged with an offence.

It seems to me that Jackson was fobbed off by the union excutive and had no alternative but to report it to the police, in her own and the members interests.

It also appears that many of the board are holding meetings, without her, and conspiring to fit her up with a bogas charge and no confidence resolution. Jackson herself wants the whole board to resign, including herself, and members elect a new board.

Jackson also claims to have warned Labor officials about the suspected fraud of Thomson, prior to his election, which was ignored.

Labor has got itself into this mess and has tried successfully to delay investigations, but the longer it goes on the more damage it will do to both the union movement and to Labor.

What i do not understand is how the ACTU has suddenly got information to the extent that it abandoned the HSU. Jackson claims to have informed the ACTU very early, but nothing was done. The FWA reprt is supposed to be confidential as is the report by Tenby QC.

Banjo I know no more than you, nothing is more ex than an ex,including ex union official.
I did not even know this much a month ago.
In a way your questions and opinions under pin my thoughts.
If you think as I do, just imagine who else does.
I am still regarded as union,proud of it too, by my ex members,they in the street need calming.
This shambles is hurting the whole.
And it will get worse.
Mate, know you have made up your mind about politics but again, who from the other side,ever did ever would write in these terms about their side?
Post federal election much will be there to tell of.
Without accountability improvement dies.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/top-nsw-labor-officials-warned-about-hsu-time-bomb-20120411-1wscz.html
It matters
We can do better than this
Please?

Belly,

You posted the link before I could. What is shows is that union corruption is given a nod and a wink by both the ACTU and Labor. The only reason for the reaction now is that it has been brought to the public.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/a-bit-rich-unions-fight-over-huge-salaries/story-e6frf7l6-1226324653026
I shadow Minister,am filled, with nothing but pride, in being different than you.
Post it and other in support of the trade union movement.
And demanding better.
See I too could farm harsh words and thoughts about my opponents, your team.
If I was such as you, it would fuel a race to the bottom.
To highlight my sides wrongs, demand better, is the better path.
Enjoy your continued path,blinkers and no side vision.
But this link is more proof, my often used words are true, UNIONS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.
Something few can find in your posts.
This warning is freely given, lack of a closer look at what Tony Abbott has planned for us,is going to inflict great pain on us all.
Supporters of Labor/Unions, do not forget, in highlighting this awful wrong betrayal, we at least start to repair it.
Conservatives hide theirs and it festers.
HSU should die,shed its members to unions not another fraud in union skin.

Just a reminder.
This thread is one I started.
My purpose was to highlight the shame I feel.
As the whole truth is unveiled.
Yet I my union,almost every union played no Part in it.
And that, as I did in my working life, another side of unionism is to be told,and I want to tell it.
I want too to talk about false unity, the silly idea if we ignore it it will go away.
For an old bloke I never got stuck in the past.
I think, have all my life, we make our own future by taking the best from those who came before.
With due respect and thanks.
But follow constantly, improvement and change,death is in standing still.
The fact is this event is a disgrace, its evidence we must take on board.
For some it is evidence of both Labor and Union failure.
We,both groups,must not retreat into our shell, it is so!
We feed the CONSERVATIVES and our own know it.
But if we understand, this self inflicted wound we can grow even better by never forgetting it.
Loyalty demands our best,read SM posts and remember we fueled them.
Know too, this will get very much worse as more truth is brought out.
I thank my fellow travelers for the unmasking in recent days.

When the boss of a union can spend $30000 per month yes 30 thousand (on top of their huge salary) of workers money on themselves it is no wonder when they get protected seats in the Labour party that they think nothing of wasting tax payer money in the billions. And to think they have the nerve to go after the banks and big business. Unbelievable.

Is it appropriate that the already over-inflated commonwealth purse (tax payer) should pay for dispute resolution which I pay a union for?.

It would be good if there was any legal accountability for unions to represent their paying members. In USA this falls under the umbrella of anti discrimination legislation, however we have no similar cover here. Today the office of Fair Trading also contacted me, advising me they were unable to assist me in a matter where I suggested I had been sold Union membership under false pretences, as the service sold was not the service provided.

I had made a complaint that I had not been paid entitlements upon resignation. In pursuit of expert legal advice, the union contacted the already discredited state health pay services (both in newspapers and union publications). Even in advising them that Fair work Australia had identified that policies could not supersede legislation, the Union stated Fair Work Australia was a federal body and had no power over state matters. The Union refused to represent me.

Four months after my resignation, at some expense to the tax payer, Fair Work Australia managed to resolve the issue.

I would like to see a review of the accountability of unions, both in the stated provisions of services provided upon recruiting members (especially as state health policies encourage membership of new staff), and in providing a quality service which is free from selective discrimination as to which paying members they will represent.

runner in a link above evidence tells us this union if we must call it one stood alone in its wages paid to the criminals leading it.
Unions There Is a Difference

Belly

'runner in a link above evidence tells us this union if we must call it one stood alone in its wages paid to the criminals leading it.
Unions There Is a Difference'

I would like to think it was true that this is an isolated incident of all those faithful workers (many low paid) are being fleeced by charlotans. It does however say alot about Gillards willingness to defend Thomson just to cling to power a little longer. It makes her not much better.

Hi Belly,
I've been a union member for 40 years and my partner is a member of the HSU east. In all my working life I have never advised anyone to quit the union, until now. I'll write her a lengthy letter of resignation this weekend.

In my mind I had laid the thread to rest.
I posted only in reply to runner, saw the other one, too hard to comment, but? well I will have ago.
First runner.
See you took the Abbott path,a comment not related to truth not ,or is it informed but uninterested in the truth.
In Abbott's case you just do not know!
Australia's oldest and best union, AWU pays its head $140.000 a year.
It has been part of the HSU scandal, that the National Secretary has been screaming for 8 months,that SHE IS BEING OVER PAID!
Because she tells us,its head needed as part of his crime, to pay her that,so he could get more.
Child of a blow fly that he is I want his head too.
But warn, do not be fooled,it is one union not all
next

I can not talk about the need for fair work Australia to fix the other posters complaints
but many who blame unions are not even members
they often said they are but.
While I heard their case checks came back they are not paid up members.
At that point I should have stood up and ended the talk, after all members payed my wages.
But I would hear the claim, put a plan together and inform them how to act.
It was not worth the effort to get a card filled in that would not see fees in any case.
Those that returned AFTER being paid and joined made it worth the effort.
Unions are not rip offs,some who walk in that door have no case or are the ones at fault, and it is them who shout the loudest.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/williamson-faces-union-charges/story-fn59niix-1226326201117
This link is from a true defender of the Trade Union Movement.
No one can convince me this lady is not just that, Heroic.
While I have a little humble pie to eat.
Shadow Minister and I stand forever on opposite sides of the fence.
I still think Thomson, child of a blow fly that he is, has the right to be proven guilty or not.
But agree this has taken time enough, and very much more.
Am however happy at last it is the union movement leading the chase.

Belly,

Thomson has a legal right of assumption of innocence, but with the blocking of the legal process by the unions, labor and FWA, a case that should have been held a long time ago would almost certainly have seen Thomson and Williamson in jail.

Juliar's government is being held up by the vote of what I believe is a crook. My view is shared by the vast majority.

Shadow Minister I under stand that, now agree.
And too that if Labor held a 5 seat majority you would not care about it as much.
You and I understand if he is convicted, takes about a year.
He leaves Parliament.
And a by election is held.
You win, we do not two extra votes you run Parliament.
So in truth, I would run the same race you have.
I now know the story,as much as we are told.
Both are as Described, by me here.
*IT IS TIME*
For a great deal, like those words.
Labor needs a clean sheet,we soon will have ,already do, scandals to uncover of much greater worth as the super rich buy and sell your party's policy's and influence.
We must do it from the other side of the house unsupported by a Medea rabid and unprofessional in its blinkered views