Trade Union News (13/07/15)

Private Eye, the UK's best and only fortnightly satirical magazine, had an interesting article on goings on within the Unite trade union the other day.




Len McCluskey's Unite trade union is under embarrassing scrutiny thanks to a spat among airline flight attendants.

The British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa), one of Unite's more far-flung branches, is, like the rest of Unlce Len's 1.42 million member fiefdom, split into warring factions. Trouble started during last year's bitter elections for the Unite executive committee, which boiled down to a fight between supporters of McCluskey, under the umbrella "Unite Left", and those calling themselves "Grass Roots Left", who say the union is too bureaucratic, self-serving and out of touch with its members.

A Grass Roots candiate, Lesley Mansell, complained to the election commissioner, Professor Keith Ewing, that the branch had submitted seven invalid nominations for the committee. The suspect seven were all supporters of McCluskey and United Left. 

Mansell also complained that Bassa had changed the date of a crucial meeting without proper notice, failed to tell members that nominations for the executive would be made at the meeting and didn't ask members if they wanted to nominate anyone other than McCluskey supporting candidates.

Pro Ewing carried out a cursory investigation before concluding that nothing untoward had occurred. He admitted he "did not investigate further whether seven days notice was given to members, whether nominations appeared on the agenda, or whether there was a request for endorsement or a vote on the nominations".

Mansell's complaints were then lodged with the independent trades union certification officer, David Cockburn, who last month ruled that the seven nominations were invalid and Prof Ewing had been wrong. Cockburn also ruled that the then chair of Bassa, Lizanne malone, a staunch McCluskey supporter who spends most of her time in Los Angeles, had illegally kept her seat on Unite's executive committee for seven months.

Meanwhile, Bassa members still want to know about the branch's accounts for the year 2013-13. No one seems able to say why, out of £524,046 spending, only £106 (on postage and stationery) is accounted for, while the other £523,940 appears as 'sundries".

Cups of tea? Kit Kats? Rubber bands? The trolley dollies (and Ollies too, of course) need to know.


'Blackleg'  

Now as I've said before on the blog site what ordinary union members need in the event of a dispute with a big union bureaucracy - is an independent watchdog with powers to investigate and adjudicate effectively over complaints.

The certification officer (David Cockburn) clearly did his job, but the CO's powers are very limited and apply mainly to union elections and in cases where disciplinary action is taken (unfairly) against union members.

As for £523,940 being spent on 'sundries' - words just fail me, but well done to Private Eye for shining a light on an important area of public life where others fear to tread.

I can't imagine that MPs with connections to Unite at Westminster and Holyrood are queuing up to ask awkward questions in parliament.