Unions royal commission: lost sister at cold heart of Cleanevent deals

A woman was kept on a union’s books for almost two years after she died.

Union Royal Commission

A woman was kept on a union’s books for almost two years after she died because her name was handed to the Australian Workers Union by a cleaning company as part of a murky deal to boost ­numbers.

Raelene Weeks, a 39-year-old single mother who worked long hours as a cleaner with Clean­event, was on a list with 99 others given to the AWU Victorian branch in 2012 as part of a “secret” side-deal between the union and the company.

Barely a week later, she died from multiple brain aneurisms, the result of a blood clot that had moved from her heart to her head.

For almost two years after her death, Weeks remained a paying member of the Victorian branch of the AWU, until the company stopped paying her “membership dues” in March last year.

“Raelene was working quite a bit and ran herself into the ground,” said Weeks’s sister, Mich­elle Generowicz, from Narre Warren in Melbourne. “I think it’s appalling (the company and the union) were still benefiting from Raelene (after) she had died.”

Weeks’s story is at the heart of the Cleanevent scandal. Her name was one of an unknown number the company gave to the AWU over several dates in early 2012.

Documents released by the royal commission show she was signed up to the union along with dozens of others on the same date and her address was listed as that of Clean­event.

It was unlikely Weeks ever knew she was an AWU member, said Ms Generowicz, who added that her sister would not have joined a union on a whim. “When it comes to decisions like joining the union, my sister would ask for advice about it ... She didn’t do things like that.”

Several Cleanevent workers contacted by The Australian had no idea they were on the books as members of the AWU, echoing past employees who testified at hearings.

The royal commission heard that Cleanevent struck a secret deal in 2010 to pay the AWU ­Victorian branch $75,000 over three years and supply the names of workers for the branch’s membership roll. At the same time, the AWU signed off on a workplace agreement that deprived workers of penalty rates, but saved Cleanevent more than $2 million.

Counsel assisting the commission had argued that the union, under then national leader Paul Howes, and Cesar Melhem as Victorian secretary, breached Fair Work laws when it “inflated” its membership.

It is not clear how many Cleanevent workers became AWU members without their knowledge. Lawyers for the inquiry scrutinised 200 so-called members from among the workforce and found 150 had their address listed as Cleanevent’s, and none had filled out membership forms.

Ben Davis, who took over as AWU Victorian secretary this year, has branded the Cleanevent deal “untoward” and cancelled the arrangement. He has also purged thousands of “members” from the union’s roll.

While not aware of Weeks’s case, Mr Davis told The Australian “usual practice” was that a member’s family notified the union when they died and the union paid a funeral benefit.

Where a family didn’t know about a union membership, and an employer was paying the fees, the union would rely on the company “to let us know ... and then we pay a funeral benefit”.

When Weeks died, her fellow Cleanevent employees organised a wake. “She liked what she was doing, she made lots of new friends. She really enjoyed what she did,” Ms Generowicz said.

“She was a very strong woman, she always put her children first.”

Mr Howes has denied any knowledge of the side-deal with Cleanevent, in submissions to the commission. Mr Melhem has denied any wrongdoing.