HSU branches back government court action

AAP

An overwhelming majority of Health Services Union (HSU) branches will support federal government action in the Federal Court to put its powerful East branch into administration.

Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten last week took the unprecedented move of applying in the Federal Court to split the union’s HSU East Branch up and appoint an administrator until fresh elections can be held.

The branch, representing members in Victoria and NSW, is the focus of allegations against its general secretary Michael Williamson that have been the subject of an internally commissioned inquiry conducted by Ian Temby QC and accountant Dennis Robertson.

HSU acting national president Chris Brown, the Tasmanian branch secretary, said the union’s branches, except the HSU East branch, would lodge an application supporting the government in the Federal Court on Wednesday.

“It will largely complement the application lodged by the minister but it’s not identical,” Mr Brown said on Tuesday.

“What we are going to be proposing to the court is that the court actually appoints a mediator to bring the parties together to see whether there can be some sort of common position arrived at.”

Mr Brown said this would allow the branches to open up negotiations about how the administration of HSU East branch would be implemented.

The six branches also support the government’s move to break the mega-branch into three and hold fresh elections.

HSU East Branch evolved from the merger last year of two Victorian branches and the NSW branch known as HSUeast.

As acting national president, Mr Brown has jurisdiction over the national union but not the HSU East Branch.

“What this application is doing … is removing the officers from the federated branch of the union but the effect of that will be automatically to remove the officers from the HSUeast,” Mr Brown said.

He said the six branches were uncertain of HSUeast’s stance and if there was no common position the court would have to make orders.

The HSUeast branch did not exist when former Labor MP Craig Thomson, who was dumped from Labor caucus by Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Sunday, was the HSU’s national secretary.

The national executive last week urged HSU national secretary Kathy Jackson and Mr Williamson to resign and support the government’s application.

Mr Williamson has been suspended from his post and Ms Jackson has refused to resign.

Mr Brown said the HSU East Branch was losing hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of members, but the effect of the scandal surrounding the union had not affected membership in other states.

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