HSU official warned her phone 'was being tapped', royal commission hears
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Version 0 of 1. A health union official has said she was prevented from doing her job and warned her phone was tapped and her car bugged by her boss. After legal argument over the admissibility of their statements, past and present employees of the Health Services Union gave evidence to the royal commission into trade union governance and corruption, alleging intimidation, bullying and falsification of qualifications at the Victoria No 1 branch. Leonie Flynn, the assistant secretary and treasurer of the branch, told the commission she felt undermined and threatened by her boss, branch secretary Diana Asmar, and was prevented from carrying out her job, which included managing the union’s finances. Flynn was a political rival of Asmar’s and won her position as assistant secretary in 2012 as a member of an opposing ticket. She has taken a case to the Fair Work Commission, which is still continuing, complaining about breaches in the way the HSU is being run. Flynn gave evidence that on one occasion in August, 2013, when meeting to discuss her concerns about the running of the branch with co-workers, one colleague refused to have her mobile phone in his house because he believed the phone was tapped “and they could hear what was going on”. The meeting took place in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. Flynn said that, after the meeting, Asmar’s car pulled in front of hers on busy Lygon St in the centre of Melbourne then sped off. “It could be just a coincidence and I was going mad,” she said. She said she was traumatised by the incident and went on stress leave soon after. Flynn said her colleagues had warned her “they know where you are all the time” and that cars were tracked either by GPS or a “black box” tracking device. The inquiry will also hear this week from the ex-husband of union whistleblower Kathy Jackson. Jeff Jackson will be questioned about $50,000 in union money he received from his former wife. The hearing continues. |