Page 4 - Newsletter#13 2021
P. 4

The rank & file newsletter focused on Qld branch and
     national MUA policy & direction.                         Unfortunately, Mr Gallagher has a bad habit of opening
            Edition #13  June 25  2021                        his mouth before putting his brain into gear. He should
                                                              discuss the matter with the National Legal Director, and
                                                              he will be informed the interests of himself, and Jason

    National  Council  decides  on  member’s  appeal          Miners  was  actually  protected  by  the  decision  of
    against charges laid by Qld Branch Secretary              National Council.

    National Council recently issued its decision concerning   The alternative would have been to uphold the appeal,
    Mike  Barber’s  appeal  against  an  earlier  majority    in  acknowledgement  of  the  Branch  Executive  by
    decision of the Qld Branch Executive to find him guilty   majority  decision,  acting  unlawfully  in  finding  Mike
    in respect of 5 of 8 charges laid against him by the Qld   Barber  guilty  thus  adversely  impacting  on  the  good
    Branch Secretary in December 2020.                        name of the MUA.
    National Council has not ruled on Mike’s appeal. It has   The    concern    of   National   Council,   (on   the
    exercised a discretion purportedly given to it under Rule   recommendation  of  Padraig),  was  the  primary
    15 to review the disputed matters afresh, set aside the   importance  of  preserving  the  good  name  of  the
    decision of the Branch Executive and replace that, with   organisation, no different from the approach adopted by
    its own.                                                  the Catholic Church in dealing with paedophilia within its
                                                              ranks.  Protecting  the  good  name  of  the  church  was
    National  Council  dismissed  2  of  the  remaining  five   more important than ensuring justice for its victims.
    charges.  As  a  result,  5  of  the  8  charges  laid  by  the
    Branch  Secretary  have  now  been  dismissed,  with  3   Nevertheless, the actions of the Branch Secretary in the
    being upheld. National Council also determined not to     first instance and later, the majority opinion within the
    impose  any  penalty,  overturning  the  3  months        Branch  Executive  has  to  a  very  large  degree,  been
    suspension  imposed  by  a  majority  of  the  Branch     repudiated by National Council. As a result, there’ll be
    Executive earlier.                                        no further rush by any branch official to charge members
                                                              in the future nor will they be encouraged to do so.
    These  charges  arose  from  various  postings  made  to
    Mike  Barber’s  Face  Book  page,  which  were  said  to   Further,  the  conduct  of  Messrs  Cumberlidge,  Miners
    include baseless claims against the Branch Secretary or   and Gallagher in this matter has now been shown for
    branch officials generally and therefore Mike was guilty   what it was, ill considered, incompetent, and at worst,
    of  abusive  and/or  insulting  conduct  towards  those   nothing  less  than  an  abuse  of  authority,  although  we
    concerned, this being in breach of Rule 58 – Charges      step  back  from  describing  it  as  a  gross  abuse  of
    and Discipline.                                           authority,  just!  There’s  still  a  question  as  to  whether
                                                              National Council was lawfully entitled to act in the way it
    If found guilty on all charges, this could have affected   has done in this matter.
    Mike’s  employment  rights,  he  could  have  been
    suspended or expelled from the union or faced fines in    While  it  does  have  a  general  discretion  to  settle
    excess  of  $300.  Importantly,  there  would  have  been   differences  between  branches  and  their  members,  or
    irreparable damage to his reputation from amongst MUA     set aside, or rescind decisions of a Branch Executive,
    members  and  other  unionists  across  Australia.  For   National Council may only deal with an appeal brought
    some,  this  would  have  meant  nought.  For  Mike       pursuant to Rule 58 in accordance with the provisions
    however, it would have signified a total repudiation of a   mandated (within that rule) and not otherwise.
    lifetime’s  political  and  industrial  commitment  to  the
    cause of labour.                                          Our  view  is  that  the  Federal  Court  on  review  would
                                                              effectively set aside this decision of the National Council
    We were first alerted to the forthcoming decision by this   and order the matter to be dealt with in accordance with
    attached  outburst  a  day  beforehand,  from  Assistant   Rule 58 as described above. There is a strong, almost
    Branch  Secretary  Paul  Gallagher.  We  gather  Mr       compelling argument in favour of this view, and we have
    Gallagher  wasn’t  particularly  impressed  with  National   no doubt Padraig at least, was advised of this by those
    Council’s decision.                                                Page.1   who  provided  the  legal opinion  to  him.  No  competent
                                                              legal practitioner could fail to say otherwise.
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