The plumbers’ union partnered with a manufacturing firm on an agreement that secretly deprived all but two of its workers of a say over their conditions, and allowed the company to avoid Labor’s new multi-employer bargaining laws.

A Fair Work Commission full bench ruled air-conditioning manufacturer Sublime’s enterprise agreement with the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union’s NSW plumbing division was “entirely lacking in authenticity and moral authority” because it was voted on by two workers but quickly extended to cover 29.