Star Chamber

The strange world of union politics took another bizarre twist the other day with this story in the Times claiming that Labour Party members in Falkirk were awarded star-ratings - based upon their loyalty, or otherwise, to Unite.

Now that seems like a strange thing to do at any time - never mind at someone's place of work during normal working time - and as the report says this comes on top of a letter sent in June by the Unite general secretary to all Labour Party members in Falkirk - despite the fact that they were not all members of Unite. 

So what's all that about?

Because on the face of things it certainly appears that someone has been passing personal information on to Unite which ought to have remained private - and that presumably explains why the matter has been now reported to the Information Commissioner.

In the meantime, I'm sure Labour members in Falkirk would be interested to know what 'scores' they were all given for their loyalty ratings to Unite - I imagine that would be a fascinating document to read.


Unite official rated Labour members for union loyalty

Stephen Deans said he would step down 24 hours before a disciplinary hearing

Stephen Deans said he would step down 24 hours before a disciplinary hearing - Photo by James Stewart

By Lindsay McIntosh and Laura Pitel

Labour Party members in Falkirk were awarded star-ratings based on their loyalty to Unite, and a database containing the information was found in the workplace of Stephen Deans, the trade union official at the centre of vote-rigging claims, The Times has learnt.

Ineos, the owners of the Grangemouth plant, have now alerted the Information Commissioner to look into any data protection breaches.

The revelations emerged on the day Ineos announced that Mr Deans — who was Unite convener at Grangemouth — decided to quit his job at the plant. His resignation came hours before managers were expected to sack — or at least heavily discipline — him for alleged breaches of company rules.

The company had called in lawyers to investigate his activities amid allegations he was seeking to influence the outcome of Labour’s choice of candidate for the Falkirk seat. Their check led to the discovery of the database last week. The files are believed to hold details of members of the Falkirk Constituency Labour Party. Each individual has been given a star-rating from zero to three according to their perceived support for Unite.

Last Thursday, managers at Grangemouth summoned Mr Deans to a meeting and told him they had evidence that he was using company resources inappropriately. He was given five days to respond and on the fourth day — yesterday — he quit.

It is understood that the lawyers had discovered he was spending about 25 per cent of his time on activities not related to his job, which was to represent the workforce to management. Most of his extra-curricular work is thought to have related to the Falkirk Labour Party, which was selecting a candidate for the Westminster seat. Mr Deans is also understood to have been spending time doing work for Unite not related to Grangemouth.

Ineos said in a statement: “Mr Stephen Deans has today resigned from the company with immediate effect. The company has conducted a thorough investigation into Mr Deans’ activities over the last 18 months and made Mr Deans aware of these findings last week. Mr Deans requested an additional five days prior to the final disciplinary hearing to allow him time to provide any further relevant information. The company was due to meet with Mr Deans again tomorrow but has now received his resignation.”

Asked about the database, the Information Commissioner’s Office confirmed: “We have recently been made aware of a possible data breach. We will be making inquiries into the circumstances of the alleged breach of the Data Protection Act before deciding what action, if any, needs to be taken.”

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Papers were handed in to Falkirk police station and will be passed to the electronic crime unit for examination.”

Unite has previously been accused of misusing the personal data of local party members. In June Len McCluskey sent a letter to all party members about the scandal, despite the fact that they were not members of the union.

Responding to the report to the Information Commissioner, Unite said: “As Chair of the Falkirk Labour Party, Stephen Deans’ access to Labour Party members was entirely legitimate. And therefore no breach of the Data Protection Act.”