The head of Western Australia’s biggest union has backed the findings of the Heydon royal commission and called on Malcolm Turnbull to go even further by removing barriers that stop workers from joining the union of their choice.
Mark Olson, state secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation, which has more than 28,000 members in Western Australia, said competition between unions would be an effective tool in killing off corruption in the movement.
“Corrupt officials will quickly lose their power base if their members are given the option to leave those unions where their funds are being misused and therefore the membership funds which prop up those corrupt officials are cut off,” he said.
“Even if workers could have a regional system, where they could join any union in their state, that would be a good start.”
Mr Olson’s call for reform came after royal commissioner Dyson Heydon’s report recommended criminal or civil action against 37 people, including union officials, as well as against the Australian Workers Union and the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union… Read More>>
original article written by Andrew Burrell and published in The Australian