GMB FAT CATS - THE SAGA CONTINUES
The story about the GMB's Fat Cats has taken a strange and bizarre twist.
The £200,000 salary figure was originally reported by Personnel Today magazine - but it turns out that not all of that amount was paid to the current General Secretary (Paul Kenny) - some of it was apparently paid to his predecessor (Kevin Curran) whom Paul Kenny replaced as Acting General Secretary in March 2005.
How much was paid to Kevin Curran - and more importantly why - has yet to be explained by the GMB - but the fact is that in 2006/07 the GMB paid £199,000 to its 'two' general secretaries - one of whom stopped working for the union in 2004/05.
Unbelievable, incredible - are the words that spring to mind - as well as the thought: What kind of way is that to spend GMB members' money?
If the GMB wants to set the record straight, by explaining who was paid precisely what and, more importantly, why? - we'll be only too happy to publish the details here.
The likely answer is that part of the £199,000 is some kind of unseemly pay off to the outgoing general secretary, Kevin Curran. If so, it would not be the first time that the GMB has got into such a sorry mess.
In 2003, the GMB's Scottish Secretary (Robert Parker) resigned his post in disgrace after being taken to an Employment Tribunal by two female members of staff - who made very serious complaints of bullying and sexual harassment.
After a protracted fight in the courts and much damning evidence, Parker was allowed to walk away with a substantial pay off - instead of being held to account by the GMB for his brutish behaviour towards two female colleagues - his Personal Assistant and a Regional Organiser.
The affair cost the GMB hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal expenses and compensation payments to the two women involved - and the GMB General Secretary (John Edmonds at the time) had to approve the pay off to Parker reported to be £50,000. Parker was last seen working as a refuse collector with South Lanarkshire Council.
The most recent GMB official to disgrace himself publicly is of course Ken Simpson - who was found guilty of abducting a woman and subjecting her to a series of violent sexual attacks - see post dated 16 June 2007: Disgrace in Aberdeenshire.
Ken Simpson was also allowed to resign quietly from the GMB - who knows whether he was given a pay off as well, but if the GMB want to clarify things, we'll publish the details on the web site.
Meantime, ordinary GMB members must be wondering what the hell is going on?
The £200,000 salary figure was originally reported by Personnel Today magazine - but it turns out that not all of that amount was paid to the current General Secretary (Paul Kenny) - some of it was apparently paid to his predecessor (Kevin Curran) whom Paul Kenny replaced as Acting General Secretary in March 2005.
How much was paid to Kevin Curran - and more importantly why - has yet to be explained by the GMB - but the fact is that in 2006/07 the GMB paid £199,000 to its 'two' general secretaries - one of whom stopped working for the union in 2004/05.
Unbelievable, incredible - are the words that spring to mind - as well as the thought: What kind of way is that to spend GMB members' money?
If the GMB wants to set the record straight, by explaining who was paid precisely what and, more importantly, why? - we'll be only too happy to publish the details here.
The likely answer is that part of the £199,000 is some kind of unseemly pay off to the outgoing general secretary, Kevin Curran. If so, it would not be the first time that the GMB has got into such a sorry mess.
In 2003, the GMB's Scottish Secretary (Robert Parker) resigned his post in disgrace after being taken to an Employment Tribunal by two female members of staff - who made very serious complaints of bullying and sexual harassment.
After a protracted fight in the courts and much damning evidence, Parker was allowed to walk away with a substantial pay off - instead of being held to account by the GMB for his brutish behaviour towards two female colleagues - his Personal Assistant and a Regional Organiser.
The affair cost the GMB hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal expenses and compensation payments to the two women involved - and the GMB General Secretary (John Edmonds at the time) had to approve the pay off to Parker reported to be £50,000. Parker was last seen working as a refuse collector with South Lanarkshire Council.
The most recent GMB official to disgrace himself publicly is of course Ken Simpson - who was found guilty of abducting a woman and subjecting her to a series of violent sexual attacks - see post dated 16 June 2007: Disgrace in Aberdeenshire.
Ken Simpson was also allowed to resign quietly from the GMB - who knows whether he was given a pay off as well, but if the GMB want to clarify things, we'll publish the details on the web site.
Meantime, ordinary GMB members must be wondering what the hell is going on?
