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Royal Commission hears more worker rip-off allegations

 The Trade Unions Royal Commission has heard further allegations that union official turned Labor MP, Cesar Melhem, arranged payments to his union from companies and others in order to put workers on the books as union members without the workers’ knowledge.

Mr Melhem didn’t deny that cleaning workers were ripped off by a union deal that deprived them of penalty rates in exchange for $25,000 a year into union coffers, but claimed he didn’t know about the rip-off at the time.
 
Today’s evidence just adds to the need for Daniel Andrews to stand down Mr Melhem until these allegations are resolved, if Mr Andrews is to have any credibility at all about caring for workers and their rights.
 
It also shows yet again how much we need reforms to impose similar standards of conduct on union officials as on company directors, and to crack down on union officials who put their own interests ahead of workers’ interests.

To read The Age’s account of today’s evidence, see Trade union royal commission: Cesar Melhem denies selling out workers and for the Herald Sun’s account, see Victorian MP Cesar Melhem denies claims he ripped off workers.