The top brass of the Health Services Union (HSU) will hold an urgent telephone conference on Tuesday to discuss the removal of embattled president Michael Williamson.
A group of senior powerbrokers decided on Monday that Mr Williamson must go.
Mr Williamson has been suspended from the union since October last year on full pay following allegations he embezzled union funds.
He denies any wrongdoing.
National secretary Kathy Jackson has called a telephone conference of the union’s national executive for 1pm (AEST) on Tuesday to discuss the union’s suspension from the peak union body the ACTU, corruption allegations related to the HSU East branch, and Mr Williamson’s position.
Mr Williamson has been invited to take part in the talks, she told AAP.
She said the meeting will discuss options for Mr Williamson’s removal.
Members of the national executive decided in a telephone conference earlier on Monday that Mr Williamson must resign.
Ms Jackson was excluded from that telephone conference.
HSU acting national president Chris Brown said 10 of the executive’s 14 members decided the controversy surrounding Mr Williamson had caused enough damage.
“We have decided that enough is enough and for the good of the union and the members of the union, Mr Williamson must go,” Mr Brown told AAP.
He said the national executive had been waiting for the results of various police and other investigations into allegations of fraud and corruption against Mr Williamson.
“But these investigations are dragging on and on, and we just can’t wait any longer,” he said.
Mr Brown said he had spoken to Mr Williamson on Sunday and he refused to quit his union position.
The executive had now urged Mr Williamson to resign and would wait for his formal response before deciding on its next step.
“Ultimately, we have to operate under the rules of the union,” Mr Brown said.
“There are provisions to remove an officer of the union from their position.”
Mr Brown says even if the investigations find Mr Williamson has not broken any laws, it is clear some of the “financial governance practices under Mr Williamson’s leadership are ethically questionable and have no place in modern unions”.
Speculation is mounting that Mr Williamson will be dumped as vice president of Unions NSW on Thursday if he doesn’t resign this week.
He is also under pressure to resign from three paid board positions at First State Super, State Government Employees Credit Union and State Water Corporation.
Fair Work Australia (FWA) last week referred a 1100-page investigation report on three former and current HSU officials and another person to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for consideration of possible criminal charges.
The report listed 181 workplace law and union breaches.
The investigation looked at the alleged misuse of an HSU credit card by former union boss and now Labor MP Craig Thomson for prostitutes and cash withdrawals.
Mr Thomson, the member for the NSW seat of Dobell, says he is innocent and will continue to co-operate with authorities.
But the FWA report is now in legal gridlock, with the DPP saying it doesn’t have a brief of evidence or investigation powers.
FWA will table its report in the Senate in a month to six weeks.
The HSU was suspended from the ACTU last week.
ACTU president Ged Kearney said the HSU knew what actions were needed to be reinstated to the peak body.
She declined to comment on whether Mr Williamson’s resignation was a step in the right direction.
“I won’t provide a running commentary on internal matters for the HSU to deal with, but will be monitoring progress towards these goals,” she said.
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