'Phantom' union members under Shorten

Up to 15 per cent of union members signed up while Bill Shorten was head of the AWU's Victorian branch are said to have been phantom members.

Bill Shorten. (AAP) Source: AAP

Up to 15 per cent of the Australian Workers Union's Victorian branch members signed up under Bill Shorten were reportedly phantom members.

Documents lodged with the royal commission into union corruption show the number of AWU Victoria members from cleaning company Cleanevent jumped from 933 to 3485 under Mr Shorten's leadership, The Australian reports on Monday.

The commission has been investigating whether the union artificially inflated member numbers by charging Cleanevent $25,000 a year in membership fees - in a deal between the AWU and Cleanevent that allegedly left workers worse off.