Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

I can confirm to Senator Bernardi that I am aware of the reports to which he refers regarding attempts by the textile union to seek money from 23 employers. Their tactic is to issue legal proceedings against the employer. The union then invites the employer to settle these proceedings in return for the employer paying the union $30,000, and that is for all 23 of the employers—talk about one size fits all!—to settle all the claims in one go, each one just pays $30,000. The message from the union is very clear: pay us $30,000 in go-away money, and the legal action will go away.

I am in receipt of a letter which sets out the terms of the offer and it states: 'if you agree to the proposal, the union is prepared to settle the claim against you and the matter will not proceed further.' And attached to the letter is a deed of settlement which includes the following terms: 'the employer'—and listen to this carefully—'must provide to the union a list of all names, street addresses and phone numbers of persons that the employer contracts with to perform work'—talk about a ham-fisted recruitment drive, if ever there was one. And then the next item includes this: 'the employer will arrange a meeting between up to three union representatives and all employees or home-based workers engaged by the employer to allow the union to explain the settlement that the employer has signed'—once again, a barefaced recruitment drive. This is at a time when the union has run for two consecutive years at a financial loss. I wonder what the motivation might be, Mr President.