On 29th May in Supreme Court one former official of the Health Services Union was finally given a chance to move on with his life.
For the Peter Mylan, the former Assisting and for a while Acting Secretary of the NSW Branch of the HSU, the last few years must have left him physically and mentally drained.
Mylan has had a union to try and clean up after Michael Willamson’s departure and eventual conviction, union administrators to deal with, a police investigation to contend with, a Royal Commission to prepare for and appear at, and a civil case to defend himself against brought on by his own union. All of these things he has done throughout the day while working night shifts.
The NSW Branch of the HSU, currently under the control of Secretary Gerard Hayes made the decision to recoup some funds and decided to pursue Mylan.
The unions claim is that Mylan, as part of the unions management was negligent in regards to some of the matters related to Michael Williamson and sought to hold him financially responsible to the tune of approximately $2.5 Million. Quite a substantial amount of money for a union that has been struggling under the weight of legal costs over recent years.
Seen ironic by many is that this action is being brought on by Gerard Hayes. Hayes is someone whom many claim was closer to Williamsons arse than a roll of Quilton 3 ply, and spent more time with Williamson than many of the Williamson family.
One of the unions claims was related to the United Edge contract for IT services. The union believed that Mylan had not shown due diligence in regards to the costs, despite their own inquiries showing that the invoicing supplied by United Edge was valid and the union had not been overcharged.
Peter Mylan on the stand at the Royal Commission
Interesting also is that one of the partners of United Edge was a man by the name of Bruce Daniels, who now owns a new IT firm. No prizes for guessing whose firm the NSW HSU are allegedly using for their IT services currently.
In what would appear to be an expensive display of hypocrisy the current management of the NSW Branch of the HSU had seemingly decided to lay the financial blame for the crimes Michal Williamson is currently in prison for at the feet of one man, Peter Mylan. Management of the union was seemingly a team effort when it came to these matters, but apparently it was a team of two, not the entire management team.
If this sounds odd to you it should. The management team currently running the union is made up of many members who were also running the union back then, this includes the current Secretary Gerard Hayes. Could it be that these people thought that singling out Mylan to point the finger at would absolve them of any responsibility and help them sleep at night? Surely if management were indeed negligent then they were part of that and should also be considered liable?
However at the end of the day it is all about securing funds for the members as it is there money we are talking about.
So did the members hit the jackpot? Not quite.
However the it would appear the unions lawyers made out like bandits.
In the end union members handed parted company with over $850K in legal fees and didn’t retrieve once cent. In fact as a reward for shelling out what will end up close to a million bucks they will have nothing to show for it but a bill to pay Peter Mylan a further $300K.
Gerard Hayes – Not the greatest financial advisor
Image – News Ltd
A Supreme Court judgment has been handed down in Peter Mylan’s favor completely vindicating Mylan of any wrongdoing or negligence. Some may remember last year that Peter Mylan was given a grilling on the witness stand at the Trade Union Royal Commission. Mylan was treated to the same as others on the witness stand as who had spoken out about Kathy Jackson’s wild spending habits. That is to say he was on the receiving end of some harsh and aggressive lines of questioning, while those on Team Jackson were treated like visiting members of the royal family.
After the judgement was handed down, Mr Mylan stated;
“I have been through a horrific period these last three years. With this judgment now behind me, I can now move on with my life. I thank all those who supported me.”
I hope this finally brings to an end the matters against Peter Mylan who is perhaps guilty of putting his faith in the wrong people and according to the courts nothing more.
Also guilty of trusting the wrong person with money, if this matter is anything to go by, is the NSW HSU membership. Although Secretary Gerard Hayes may disagree giving money hand over fist to a legal firm to fight a losing battle against a former employee is not what I would describe as a constructive use of union resources.
If it were a constructive use of members funds it is something you would think management would share the news of on the unions website or Facebook page, after all it was close to a $Million spend.
Next election union members will have a chance to address this.
Lets hope that someone stands who was not aligned with Hayes or Jackson.
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Poor sod, I wonder whether the persecution will continue despite the verdict as in Craig Thomson’s case. On the other hand, it appears there was no salacious element to the allegations so the MSM might not show much interest. Then again, they could just make it up …
Congratulations to Peter Mylan, I thoughly agree, the only crime Peter was guilty of was doing as he was instructed and being a loyal employee like many of the union employees who have suffered thru this mess. It is a shame Gerard Hayes wiggled his way out of being part of many of those decisions that were made and that he accused Peter Mylan and Michael Williamson of… Hopefully the chickens will come home to roost for him… As to the next election, hopefully, the members of HSU, think about their vote and take part in the union election…
Congratulations Peter, we always knew you were clear of any wrong doing. The HSU has lost a great employee who was honest and trustworthy and worked 100% for the members. As a friend I would trust you with my life. You are a genuine kind and thoughtful human being. My family and I wish you the best for a happy future. To those who put you through 3 years of crap…….KARMA!! I wouldn’t want to stand in their shoes. All the very best to you Peter, YOU deserve it.
Congratulations Peter. A hard worker and a lovely man. There have been a few who have suffered because of this HSU debarcle. Most of all its members! Sorry but people like Peter Mylan, Craig Thomson and Michael Williamson WERE the HSU!
As WAS, and still is Gerard Hayes!!! and he had a ‘very close and friendly’ relationship with Kathy Jackson!!!
When is Jackson’s trial, that should entertain the masses for a time.
If commences 28th of this month
Maybe the next General Secretary, Andrew Lillicrap, would have handled things a bit differently and actually gotten a result for us member. You’re a waste of space Gerard. A haircut and a suit wouldn’t hurt either. I’d like a professional to represent me in the future.
Now if only you would expose the full extent of the support given by the ALP to Hayes, and to Thompson (and probably Kathy Jackson). As you may know, this involved large sums of money, some ostensibly from the TWU.
It also involved heavy commitment to the campaign of Hayes that got him his present position. That included cash, “in kind support”, printing, and the physical support of ALP staffers working (full time) as “volunteers” on Hayes election campaign. At least one of those ” volunteers”, staffer of a very senior ALP office bearer, was later involved in a rort in which members’ addresses were amended just prior to the issue of ballot papers for the ALP leader.
Williamson sagely pointed out that the ALP will inevitably call in these favours.
It is really hard to see that the HSU members, at grassoots level, are any better off.
Now that this all over and Gerard Hayes did what the Members asked for and proceeded in am attempt to retrieve monies that were embezzled by the former by the former HSU Management. Yes Peter was proven innocent that is a good thing and Micheal is in jail which is another good thing. As for Gerard Hayes he is a great Secretary and has brought the HSU back from despair. This has come at a cost to himself by making the hard decisions.
The HSU is growing at a rapid rate of knots and has 1 of the strictest financial reporting lines and all finances are open for members to view. Due to the success of Gerard Hayes others are now trying to cash in on the good fortunes of the HSU.
AS for Kerries comments neither Micheal, Peter or Craig were the HSU the HSU is us the members.
As for rubys comments there is a saying that comes from the movie the Castle YOU MUST BE DREAMING.
As for unhappy HSU member let my tell you that if Andrew Lillicrap was the secretary you would never see him he would be to far up political AS**es to visit members.
As for soreloser your knowledge of this is profound so i believe that you must be in the HSU head office. Karma!!! will happen and those backstabbers within the HSU that are trying to bring it down again for their own personal gain Karma is a bitch. I believe that if you dont pull your head in you just might be on the unemployment line after the next election. EG; All you had to do was to look at the % difference at the last election between Gerard and Andrew. Andrew take notice us members dont want you
The union needs someone who is not factional, perhaps if the union want to retrieve some money, Gerard’s Hamilton Island trip would be a start… I note while the union picked up Gerard’s tab the Williamson’s paid their own way
Dear Happy HSU Member, congratulations on being one of the few happy members! You may think that I’m dreaming but you can ask around and there are a number of people who have photos of Hayes and Jackson very cosy together in a number of social settings! Or just keep on enjoying living under your rock!
I have heard there is a history there…. But cannot confirm
I know that there was a meeting around the time of the last election which consisted of Gerard Hayes, kathy Jackson and Michael Lawler
As thick as thieves some might say…
Dear Ruby
There might be hundreds of these photos hanging around as there is of Gerard with Micheal. All you have to do is look at them and see that Jackson is happy in all these photos. Then look at her today and then tell me they are recent. Keep dreaming
When Hayes is asked about his Hamilton Island trip perhaps he should also be asked how it was week after week when he came to Sydney to visit his family whilst he was working with Jackson in Melbourne, he would alway talk of having to pay off family debts of very large amounts but then suddenly he had the money to do it!
Dear Peter i have also heard that Micheal was released from prison to attend that meeting and Craig Thompson paid for the coffee
Yep, I forgot about them… And Elvis too I’m guessing?
Dear Adam
I believe that everyone in the HSU went to that including all delegates.
So Adam i take it you were at this meeting as you have intimate details of this meeting. Did your debts get paid as well
Dear Happy HSU Member,
All secrets have a habit of coming out…watch this space!
What a load of crap this entire article is, including comments. We are a union still getting on its feet after years of turmoil. We do not need factional splits we need to stand together to create strength and solidarity before the government of the day privatises the entire public health system right under our noses cause we were too busy worrying about who could be the next great leader. Get over yourselves and grow up.
PS As a long term member of the HSU I’m happy with the direction we are moving in under the current leadership. Keep up the good work guys. Don’t stop now
Years of turmoil is appropriate.
But if your leadership was part of that turmoil the union will not get on its feet until those involved in the turmoil are removed.
To think otherwise is blissful ignorance