The Musicians’ Union of Australia, which has been ‘serving musicians since 1887’, has landed in some hot water with the Fair Work Commission.
According to General Manager Bernadette O’Neill, the MUA and one of its officials have been accused of an alleged 118 breaches of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act.
The GM of the national workplace relations tribunal says the MUA has displayed “conscious, flagrant and prolonged failure” to comply with the Fair Work Act.
O’Neill says she is pursuing civil penalties against the Union’s federal office over 24 contraventions in the body’s annual financial reporting, as Workplace Express reports, after receiving a report on the MUA on 16th January showing a raft of Fair Work violations by the hundred-years-old organisation.
O’Neill’s investigation has also found that an MUA official is responsible for 71 contraventions of the Fair Work Act’s s285 stipulation, which means failing to discharge annual wage reporting obligations “with the required standard of care and diligence.”
Formed to protect the rights of Australian musicians, the MUA works to lobby government and industry to set minimum rates, working hours and conditions to a fair standard that satisfies the interests of the country’s musical community; offering memberships ranging in cost from $71.50 (for concession quarterly subscriptions) up to $242 (for a full yearly subscription).“The cumulative effect of these contraventions reflects a conscious, flagrant and prolonged failure to comply with the financial reporting obligations.”
The MUA also offers services for organising entertainment visa applications, taxation returns for musicians, as well as advice on instrument and equipment insurance, and access to venues, recording studio, and work referrals.
The General Manager says that the multiple Fair Work breaches are a serious ethical matter.
“The cumulative effect of these contraventions reflects a conscious, flagrant and prolonged failure to comply with the financial reporting obligations of the Act,” O’Neill says.
“The consequence of the contraventions is that members of the union have been deprived of the opportunity to be informed of the financial position of the union’s reporting units over a prolonged period of time. This disclosure is fundamental to achieving the objects of the Act, and is a serious matter.”
However, she does not suspect any “criminal conduct, dishonesty or misuse of union funds” (which certainly haven’t gone toward the music body’s vastly outdated website).
The Fair Work inquiry, which launched four separate investigations into the Musician’s Union of Australia on 23rd November 2012 after an audit revealed discrepancies in financial figures, also looked into the operations of individual MUA branches across the country.
Sydney was identified as committing 42 Fair Work violations, while Melbourne was identified as making 20, while the Newcastle and Coalfields branches – both now closed – had both been linked to three more breaches. Hobart had also accumulated 12 breaches, which had since been rectified.
O’Neill is awaiting legal advice, but is planning to proceed with lodging civil complaints with the court against the MUA.
The Union’s Federal Secretary and Melbourne Branch secretary, Terry Noone tells Workplace Express that he was unable to comment on the alleged breaches as he “hadn’t seen anything from the Federal Court yet.”
