A union branch previously linked to Kathy Jackson has posted a $2.1 million turnaround, latest financial records show. It comes days after Ms Jackson was charged with 70 criminal counts over allegations she stole nearly $1 million from the Health Services Union in Victoria. The HSU Victoria No. 1 branch, which was previously controlled by Ms Jackson’s former husband, Jeff Jackson, has nearly doubled its membership to 13,000 since her allies lost control of the branch in 2012. Current branch secretary Diana Asmar said the union was now “back on its feet”. “The union was a mess. On the first day on the job, I was greeted by a mountain of shredded documents,” Ms Asmar said. “The union was left in bad shape. We had a $3 million debt that we were paying interest on. There were 450 expired or lapsed workplace agreements collecting dust. We’d shrunk to just 7000 financial members. “In just under four years, we’ve completely turned it around. The union has cleared this $3 million debt. We own our offices outright. Our finances are back on track.” The branch, which trades as the Health Workers Union, will post a surplus of $451,866 for 2015-16. This comes after suffering a loss of more than $1.6 million the previous year. The No. 1 branch will be voting to accept the latest financial statement at a meeting today.
