Defending the Indefensible
Here's an amazing press statement from the Unite web site which makes a huge fuss about the allegedly unfair treatment of Stephen Deans - without ever explaining that the union's real objective was to stop an investigation into Mr Deans' behaviour.
As far as I can see, Unite's case was that because the Labour Party had dropped its investigation into Mr Deans over alleged wrongdoing in the Falkirk 'vote-rigging' scandal - that Ineos should follow suit and do exactly the same.
Although I fail to see what one thing had to do with the other - and if this was how the issues were explained to Unite members who agreed to go on strike in support of Mr Deans - then all I can say is that they were badly advised and misinformed.
The company was clearly quite within its rights to investigate claims that Mr Deans was abusing his time-off arrangements at the Grangemouth plant - where he was being paid to represent the interests of the workforce.
Whereas it turns out that Mr Deans was devoting a significant amount of his time and energy working on Scottish Labour Party business - something no other employer in Scotland would tolerate, for sure.
Yet, incredibly, Unite tried to 'persuade' the company to turn a blind eye to what was going on through a damaging campaign of industrial action - but these strong-arm tactics quickly blew up in their face, and rightly so.
How any Labour supporter or trade unionist could defend this kind of behaviour is beyond me - but just imagine what could have happened if the company just rolled over and failed to stand its ground.
Although I fail to see what one thing had to do with the other - and if this was how the issues were explained to Unite members who agreed to go on strike in support of Mr Deans - then all I can say is that they were badly advised and misinformed.
The company was clearly quite within its rights to investigate claims that Mr Deans was abusing his time-off arrangements at the Grangemouth plant - where he was being paid to represent the interests of the workforce.
Whereas it turns out that Mr Deans was devoting a significant amount of his time and energy working on Scottish Labour Party business - something no other employer in Scotland would tolerate, for sure.
Yet, incredibly, Unite tried to 'persuade' the company to turn a blind eye to what was going on through a damaging campaign of industrial action - but these strong-arm tactics quickly blew up in their face, and rightly so.
How any Labour supporter or trade unionist could defend this kind of behaviour is beyond me - but just imagine what could have happened if the company just rolled over and failed to stand its ground.
To my mind this is 'Tammany Hall' politics - not the legitimate interests of trade unions in representing their members - though not everyone, it seems, can tell the difference between the two which is worrying.
The essential point is that it's not part of the Job Description of a union official to work on behalf of a political party - any political party - that can only ever be a voluntary matter outside of an employee's contract of employment.
And that remains true for a full-time official directly employed by a trade union such as Unite - or a local official employed by a private company like Ineos or one employed by a big public sector employer, for example, North Lanarkshire or South Lanarkshire Councils.
Unite seems to think that the trade union's interests and the Labour Party's interests are one and the same, but that is simply untrue and the fact of the matter is that the great majority of union members in Scotland don't even support the Scottish Labour Party.
If anything, I would say that the majority of union members in Scotland vote SNP although that's really beside the point - because the job of a trade union official is to represent the interests of union members at the workplace and that means party politics have no place, at least if people are doing their jobs properly.
Patience runs thin as Grangemouth workers announce action
30 September 2013
Unite, Britain's biggest union, has today (30 September) given Ineos management seven days notice of industrial action that will begin on Monday 7 October as the union steps up its opposition to the ill-treatment of a union rep at the site and the growing use of agency workers.
The action will involve a ban on overtime and a work- to-rule, meaning the disruption and slowing down of operations at the Grangemouth site in Scotland (see notes to editors). Workers on secondments will also be recalled to their original roles.
Last week, the workers voted by an overwhelming majority to support suspended union representative Stephen Deans, allegedly in relation to his political role in Falkirk CLP, of which Mr Deans is the chair. He could be sacked if the company rules against him. On a 86 per cent turnout 90.6 per cent of workers voted for industrial action short of a strike and 81.4 per cent voted for strike action.
The union will also hold a mass meeting tomorrow (1 October) at the Grangemouth site where Ineos workers will discuss the potential escalation of industrial action unless the company ends the unfair treatment of Stephen Deans.
Unite Scottish regional secretary Pat Rafferty said: "Unite has given Ineos manangement opportunity after opportunity to come to its senses and end the unfair treatment of Stephen Deans.
"Unite has announced action which will slow down operations from next Monday but the workforce are losing their patience and are ready to escalate the action unless the company ends its treatment of a loyal member of staff with 24 year's service.
"Ineos is trying to spin this dispute into a fight over the future of Grangemouth - this is not the case, we have always been willing to sit down with the company and discuss the challenges facing the business.
"This dispute is about the unfair treatment of Stephen Deans who has already been cleared by the Police and by the Labour party. We repeat our call to Ineos management to step back from the brink and end this wholly unnecessary dispute."
Stephen Deans was working with Falkirk CLP to select a Labour party candidate to replace the disgraced MP Eric Joyce.
His union Unite has challenged all assertions of wrongdoing by Mr Deans and the CLP, and has been proved correct in this when the Labour party announced on Friday 6 September that Mr Deans was innocent, importantly reiterated by Police Scotland in August when they announced that there was no case against Mr Deans. However, irrespective of these facts, Ineos, which is majority-owned by Jim Ratcliffe, is continuing with a campaign of unfair treatment against an innocent employee.
The union has repeatedly made clear to Mr Ratcliffe and his HR team that it views their actions as nothing other than the unfair treatment of a trade union representative, and that this will not be tolerated.
The Ineos refinery, which sits on the Firth of Forth, is the only refinery north of the border and is Scotland's main fuel supplier. The plant powers the Forties pipeline which is connected to the oil fields in the North Sea and supplies 30 per cent of the UK's North Sea oil.
Unite met with John Swinney SNP cabinet secretary for finance, employment and sustainable growth on Friday 13 September to urge the minister to put pressure on Ineos' management to end the unfair campaign.
The union has also held meetings with BP which owns the Forties pipeline and has written to Petrochina which has a 50 per cent stake in the Ineos refinery to urge the stakeholders to get Ineos to return to peaceful relations with its workforce.
ENDS
For further information contact Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
Notes to editors:
The action to be notified to the employer today covers;
Continuous overtime ban for all members.
Work to rule for all members
Withdrawal of members on secondments and special projects.
Unite is Britain and Ireland's largest trade union with 1.4 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.
The action will involve a ban on overtime and a work- to-rule, meaning the disruption and slowing down of operations at the Grangemouth site in Scotland (see notes to editors). Workers on secondments will also be recalled to their original roles.
Last week, the workers voted by an overwhelming majority to support suspended union representative Stephen Deans, allegedly in relation to his political role in Falkirk CLP, of which Mr Deans is the chair. He could be sacked if the company rules against him. On a 86 per cent turnout 90.6 per cent of workers voted for industrial action short of a strike and 81.4 per cent voted for strike action.
The union will also hold a mass meeting tomorrow (1 October) at the Grangemouth site where Ineos workers will discuss the potential escalation of industrial action unless the company ends the unfair treatment of Stephen Deans.
Unite Scottish regional secretary Pat Rafferty said: "Unite has given Ineos manangement opportunity after opportunity to come to its senses and end the unfair treatment of Stephen Deans.
"Unite has announced action which will slow down operations from next Monday but the workforce are losing their patience and are ready to escalate the action unless the company ends its treatment of a loyal member of staff with 24 year's service.
"Ineos is trying to spin this dispute into a fight over the future of Grangemouth - this is not the case, we have always been willing to sit down with the company and discuss the challenges facing the business.
"This dispute is about the unfair treatment of Stephen Deans who has already been cleared by the Police and by the Labour party. We repeat our call to Ineos management to step back from the brink and end this wholly unnecessary dispute."
Stephen Deans was working with Falkirk CLP to select a Labour party candidate to replace the disgraced MP Eric Joyce.
His union Unite has challenged all assertions of wrongdoing by Mr Deans and the CLP, and has been proved correct in this when the Labour party announced on Friday 6 September that Mr Deans was innocent, importantly reiterated by Police Scotland in August when they announced that there was no case against Mr Deans. However, irrespective of these facts, Ineos, which is majority-owned by Jim Ratcliffe, is continuing with a campaign of unfair treatment against an innocent employee.
The union has repeatedly made clear to Mr Ratcliffe and his HR team that it views their actions as nothing other than the unfair treatment of a trade union representative, and that this will not be tolerated.
The Ineos refinery, which sits on the Firth of Forth, is the only refinery north of the border and is Scotland's main fuel supplier. The plant powers the Forties pipeline which is connected to the oil fields in the North Sea and supplies 30 per cent of the UK's North Sea oil.
Unite met with John Swinney SNP cabinet secretary for finance, employment and sustainable growth on Friday 13 September to urge the minister to put pressure on Ineos' management to end the unfair campaign.
The union has also held meetings with BP which owns the Forties pipeline and has written to Petrochina which has a 50 per cent stake in the Ineos refinery to urge the stakeholders to get Ineos to return to peaceful relations with its workforce.
ENDS
For further information contact Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
Notes to editors:
The action to be notified to the employer today covers;
Continuous overtime ban for all members.
Work to rule for all members
Withdrawal of members on secondments and special projects.
Unite is Britain and Ireland's largest trade union with 1.4 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.
