United Workers Union employees who supported rebel senator Fatima Payman claim they were bullied

Employees at the powerful WA branch of the United Workers Union have complained management intimidated them into removing their names from a petition they signed in support of Labor defector Senator Fatima Payman. The alleged intimidation was just one of example of what current and former staff have felt has been a culture of bullying and harassment inside the WA branch. Sydney-based Adero Law is assessing a potential class action against the union, which represents workers in 45 industries. The alleged bullying connected to the petition was cited in a botice issued to the union’s national executive and given to president Jo Schofield and national secretary Tim Kennedy by a Perth-based health and safety representative on July 10. A Provisional Improvement Notice requires safety and health concerns in the workplace to be addressed. Reforms to the Occupational Safety and Health Act now allow qualified safety and health representatives to issue PINs to employers. The PIN was twice cancelled — allegedly on technical grounds according to disaffected workers — by WorkSafe. But WorkSafe WA has confirmed it was investigating “claims of inappropriate behaviour” at the union. Senator Payman worked for the union before entering politics and was highly regarded in the Perth office. The petition called on the union to issue a public statement in support of her principled stand after she crossed the floor of Parliament to take a different public position to Labor on Palestinian statehood. Employees allege they were reprimanded and stood over by management to take their names off the petition. “People were called into meetings and told they should take their names off the petition,” a source said. “And people did, they were genuinely scared. “In other States, they ran the same petition and no one was bullied for it,” the source claimed. The union declined to comment on any of the matters raised by The West Australian. In WA, the United Workers Union is a powerful voice in the State Labor Party. Loyalty to the party and its Left faction is drilled into staff, who are expected to give up their own time, including Saturdays, for door knocking and other election campaign work. The extra ALP workload on top of their existing union duties was a major cause of tension and stress, with employees unhappy at being forced to “volunteer” on their days off. Insiders claim some office practices were “cult-like”. “At the very first staff meeting that (new employees attend) you have to stand up in front of everyone that say, ‘it’s an honour and a privilege to be here and I’m aware of my obligations’. “It feels very culty. No one dares question it,” a source said. A major concern was excessive work and unrealistic expectations. “I’ve seen so many people driven to absolute exhaustion that they’ve resigned,” the source said. “Other people have had mental health breakdowns that have required hospitalisation. “(People come into the organisation) very healthy and they leave broken. “They say (the ALP campaign work) is just part of our job, but they’re not giving them less work. You’re told you just have to do it, ‘it’s what you signed up for’. The PIN had stated there was “ongoing bullying and intimidation of staff in the WA state office despite WA Health and Safety Representatives previously raising issues of psychosocial hazards such as bullying. “The bullying was perpetrated by senior officials such as Carolyn Smith and Rory Lambert,” the source said. “The PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) has failed to update their systems to adequately record incidents of bullying, has failed to investigate and remedy prior reports of bullying in a timely manner, and their inaction has allowed for the behaviour to continue within the office. “In the office on June 28 multiple workers reported bullying to Health and Safety Representatives and union delegates when workers were signing a petition. “Health and Safety Representatives have had reports of workers feeling so unsafe they do not want to work in the office building for fear of coming across those who have bullied and intimidated them. The sum of the above means that the PCBU is not taking all reasonably practicable steps to minimise psychosocial hazards in the workplace.” The national executive was first alerted the alleged bullying in May. Adero Law has interviewed a number of current and former employees with a view to running a class action. It’s specifically looking into claims of a systematic practice of bullying and harassment within the union. The law firm is also focusing on staff working unpaid overtime as “purported volunteers”, in connection with ALP election campaign support. The West Australian understands any legal action will address alleged resistance by the union leadership to properly address past complaints of harassment and bullying, unfair terminations, as well as alleged acts of retaliation connected to employees’ political allegiances or memberships. One union source said staff were micro-managed and people were “shamed into working harder” because they had to reveal their performance metrics at regular group meetings. Under WA’s Work Health and Safety Act 2020, failure to comply with a PIN within the specified period may constitute an offence, which can attract a penalty of up to $55,000 for an individual or $285,000 for a body corporate. The union’s WA branch secretary Carolyn Smith was a major powerbroker in the State Labor Party, in which she was president from 2017 to 2021. The union’s influence in the party is reflected in the fact it has the most members in its State caucus. Both Roger Cook and Amber Jade Sanderson hail from the union, which was formed in 2019 in a merger of United Voice and the National Union of Workers. Ms Smith was also senior-vice president of Unions WA. Mr Lambert is the partner of Labor Senator Sue Lines, who is currently President of the Australian Senate. Ms Lines was a senior official in United Voice before entering politics.