Over a year has passed since General Secretary Simpson's election, you might expect him to have moved against amicus Full Time Officers like Arthur Taylor, who famously
. Or maybe against his old enemy Sir Ken Jackson's
, Bob Shannon. But no, Taylor is still in post and Shannon is now in charge London Region.
Instead Simpson has moved against the Left in amicus, starting with the hard left Socialist Workers Party (SWP). The SWP member who sat on the General Purposes and Finances Committee has been removed and the four SWP National Executive (NEC) members have been purged from the "broad left"'s pre-NEC meetings. Two other left NEC members have honourably resigned from the Left caucus in outrage, namely Janet Moir and Ray Bazeley. Labour Party member Bazeley said as he left:
Another Labour NEC member, Billy Spiers, voted against the expulsion. The Right are of course delighted. Simpson made his move on 25th October only days after the annual conference of the 'broad left' Unity Gazette group, where no hint was given of the coming purge. The Unity Gazette group have called an emergency meeting of the editorial board for this weekend to discuss Simpson's witch-hunt.
The pretext for this purge is the Wembley dispute, now settled but in which General Secretary Simpson instructed Full Time Officials to escort workers across the picket line. Simpson also got the NEC to repudiate this dispute on undisclosed legal advice. The SWP NEC members voted against this, as did Janet Moir. Two other NEC members abstained.
The appallingly handled Wembley dispute has been a classic example of 'shoot the messengers and let the culprits get away scott free'. Simpson's allegation is that the four SWP members 'broke discipline' by not voting to repudiate the dispute, in fact seven left NEC members 'broke discipline' in this way. The irony of it all is that it was actually Simpson who was breaking Gazette policy because the official Unity Gazette position at the time, supported by a majority of the editorial board, was to fully support the Wembley dispute.
The timing of Simpson's witch-hunt may be no coincidence. Up until now the left Unity Gazette group almost had a majority on the NEC; the next NEC meeting will be swamped by Right wingers from the merged GPMU and UNIFI unions. Undoubtedly many of these New Labour supporters will be invited to join the freshly purged Gazette grouping.
All figures exclude Iraqi army conscripts killed in the invasion, this figure is not collated but the kill ratio in the 1991 Iraq war was 1,000 Iraqi military to 1 American. Just over 1,000 American soldiers have died so far in this war. Just under 3,000 Americans died in '911'.
General Secretary
Sweeney: a winker
UNIFI Merger Might Never Happen
amicus.cc have an exclusive and first hand account of last Friday's Trade Union Certification Office hearing that is preventing the merger between UNIFI and amicus. This may be UNIFI members' first intimation that their merger is on hold: They have not been told anything by their union. In fact both unions seem be carrying on as if everything is proceeding fine. However if the merger happens at all, it is likely to be delayed well into next year.
The hearing was brought as a result of 7 complaints brought by UNIFI National Executive member and Nat West pensioner, Mrs Patricia Lynch.
The complaints relate to the running of the ballot and the union's record of members (see on).
The hearing lasted two days, spread over a two week period, and concluded on Friday. The union's defence team was ludicrously large - the Certification Office hearing room had to be redesigned to provide an extra layer of desks. Their team consisted of:
1 Queen's Counsel
1 Solicitor
1 UNIFI General Secretary
1 UNIFI Head of Resources
1 Director of the ballot company 'Popularis',
1 UNIFI president and chair of the Wales TUC,
1 UNIFI vice president and member of the Scottish TUC women's committee,
1 UNIFI Joint General Secretary,
3 UNIFI Deputy general Secretaries and
1 UNIFI Head of the membership department.
Many overnight bags were in evidence despite the hearings being single days, 2 weeks apart. All of the team trooped up again for the second day. Mrs Lynch was assisted by amicus member
David Beaumont and supporting visitors from both amicus and UNIFI.
UNIFI General Secretary Ed Sweeney was an odd character at the hearing, possessing the bizarre habit of winking at the opposition. It was never clear if this was a nervous disorder or an attempt to intimidate. Certainly Sweeney appeared at times stressed and at others angry. It is thought that amicus GS Derek Simpson is exasperated at Sweeney for getting the union into this position.
[Full Story]
[amicus.cc] Previous Story: Pensioner blocks super-union deal
New! [New Statesman] A very tactical merger
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 28th September 2004, updated 1st October 2004
GMB Slam union over Whitehall College Closure
amicus.cc have obtained a GMB newsletter to amicus employees regarding the mothballing of Whitehall College on 'heath and safety' grounds. It talks of the "contempt with which employees of Amicus are treated". The controversial Health and Safety report has not been disclosed to them and the GMB believe it is an excuse "to pre-empt any considered process involving lay members and the [GMB & TGWU]".
The newsletter concludes "This is not consultation as defined by the law, good practice and Amicus policy.""[It] is an attempt to intimidate insecure and vulnerable workers out of the employment of this Union."
The closure of Whitehall has been handled by possible future amicus General Secretary Les Bayliss.
[GMB] Statement to amicus staff
[amicus.cc] Previous Story: Whitehall Farce
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 22nd September 2004
Wembley Lockout Settled
This bitter dispute which amicus refused to recognise in fear of the anti-union laws has now been settled. An investigation continues into the fact that amicus union officials escorted scabs across the picket line. At the union's National Executive meeting last week only five committee members supported the industrial action, a split in the Left of amicus.
[BBC]Wembley workers agree to go back
[Scotsman] Union Hits Out over Sacked Wembley Workers
[Socialist Appeal] Support sacked Wembley workers
[Guardian] New fears over Wembley stadium
[Gazette] amicus must support the Wembley strikers
New! [Teesside Evening Gazette] Our Steely Resolve
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 16th September 2004, updated 28th September 2004
The trade union movement is becoming "increasingly irrelevant", says CBI chief Digby Jones...
...and here's why:
Simpson launches Wembley inquiry
by KARL STEWART
MORNING STAR Wednesday September 8 2004
INDUSTRY union amicus general secretary Derek Simpson launched an inquiry into the actions of a Wembley construction site official yesterday after meeting furious sacked steel erectors.
The workers, who were illegally sacked three weeks ago by building agency Fastrack, lodged a format complaint against union official Harry Cowap over his role in the dispute.
They alleged that Mr Cowap had "misrepresented them" by advising them to sign new contracts of employment with worse terms and conditions than before.
They further alleged that he had escorted scab workers across picket lines and had spoken at meetings with Fastrack management encouraging replacement erectors to cross the sacked mens' picket line.
Over 100 workers demonstrated outside the amicus executive meeting in central London yesterday to tell union leaders that "we want Cowap out!"
Protest organiser and former site convener Tony Connor said: "We're here today to make our case to the national executive. We're giving our leaflets out to its members and we're asking them to go in and address the meeting to ask for their support."
Arriving at the meeting, Mr Simpson pledged that 'there will be a provision for some discussion with these lads today."
Some 240 workers were sacked, both members of amicus and GMB - but many amicus members feel that a different approach was taken by the respective leaderships of the two unions involved.
While amicus wrote to the sacked men last week, repudiating their actions and asking them to disband their picket line, the GMB has not done the same.
Explaining this, amicus member Darren Dutton said that "following the sackings, GMB no longer has any members on site, but amicus still has electricians and crane drivers."
Legally, amicus fears that this could place the union open to charges of illegal secondary action. With no members on site, the GMB could not be accused or rue same thing.
After his meeting with Mr Simpson, during an adjournment of the executive, Mr Connor reported that national construction secretary Paul Corby is now "in charge of negotiations.
He added "Derek's trying to organise a meeting for Friday. Fastrack have asked us to take our picket off before the meeting takes place, but we've told them that we won't do that until they guarantee that there will be no agency workers doing our work."
Eamonn McCann: Stooping to conquer is not answer for union leaders
Belfast Telegraph
Thursday 09 September 2004
We were standing outside a doomed factory, summoned by a local community group to express concern at an announcement that the plant was to close with the loss of all jobs.
The decision was final, the lunchtime news had said. There could be no reprieve.
Peering through the locked gates, we could see a clump of workers gathered in the sunshine some distance away.
We motioned them across. At first, none seemed anxious to walk the 30 or so yards. But two eventually detached themselves.
"We've been told not to talk to you," they explained. By whom? Their union official. "He says you'll only alienate the management."
The factory closed for good a few weeks later. The union helped select the dozen or so workers kept on for a month to load up machinery for shipment to the company's next port of call.
I occasionally meet some of the workers around town. Most are now in other jobs or one sort or another. I don't know any who is a union member.
The few I've ventured to talk to about trade unionism are scornful. "Useless" would be as polite a word as comes up.
This story came back to mind as I thought on Digby Jones' attack on trade unionism last weekend, and on union leaders' response to it.
Jones, director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), told Scottish business leaders that organised labour was "increasingly irrelevant every day" and that workers were "perplexed" by the unions' militancy. Unless "flexibility" and "partnership" became the watchwords of labour, the unions would wither away.
The TUC "regretted Mr. Jones' return to the rhetoric of the Thatcher years," and suggested that it was he who was out of touch with his members.
The same point was made on Talkback on behalf of the Northern Committee of the ICTU.
Here, listeners were told, contrary to Jones' assertion, businesses affiliated to the CBI regarded the unions as constructive organisations, eminently suitable for co-operating with.
And Ministers took the same view. A "vibrant partnership" was in formation with the Northern Ireland Office.
Implicit in this response was acceptance that the trade union movement would deservedly become irrelevant if it behaved in the way Jones had alleged.
But the union leaders were vigorously insisting they were innocent of the change.
Strange. Jones may be right that increasing numbers of workers are "perplexed" by the approach of unions to problems on the shop floor. But I don't think it can be "militancy" which lies at the heart of this perplexity. On the contrary...
Much depends, of course, on the perspective in which the matter is examined.
One person's militancy can be another's moderation. But ask any group of unionised workers with problems on the job whether they have criticisms of their union's handling of the issues, and it's odds on they'll complain union officialdom is too close to management, not responsive enough to the concerns of rank and file members.
Their problem is not that the unions are ever spoiling for a fight but that, at official level, there's not nearly enough fight in them.
Here's another story, from last week.
Walking through Belfast, I'm accosted by a worker from a major supermarket. Earlier in the day, she's been brought by a supervisor into a storeroom for searching. Told to take off her cap, jacket, shoes and socks. No way.
She stormed out for her shop steward - who told her to go back and submit before she found herself in trouble. The union had agreed to this "procedure."
"Prison visits never involved taking shoes and socks off," she marvelled. "The next step will be latex gloves and bend over... And the f........ union ....... agreed they could do this! No ....... wonder the company deducts the union dues from our wages."
I'd say she'll be out of the union the first chance she gets. There's irrelevancy for you.
[Scotsman] Union Hits Out over Sacked Wembley Workers
[Socialist Appeal] Support sacked Wembley workers
[Guardian] New fears over Wembley stadium
[Gazette] amicus must support the Wembley strikers
New! [Teesside Evening Gazette] Our Steely Resolve
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 13th September 2004, updated 28th September 2004
Whitehall Farce
Rumours of the closure of Whitehall College have persisted for years. The college is the training facility belonging to the MSF side of the merged amicus union. Under MSF leadership, those rumours were aswaged only when ex-Spare General Secretary Lyons arranged for the letters 'MSF' to be permanently tiled into the bottom of the college swimming pool. Not many months later Lyons began to plan the merger with Sir Ken Jackson and to rename the union 'amicus'.
This time the repeated rumour has proved to be both tradegy and farce. A week ago a memo was sent out from General Secretary Simpson:
"The Union's General Purposes and Finance Committee meeting this week has decided that Whitehall College will not be used for meetings, courses, seminars, residential use, etc with immediate effect."
This was despite a "Building Bridges into Higher Education" weekend seminar (Universities are in the middle of the biggest changes in their history), arranged for 17-19 September, and other bookings. An astonished staff member told delegates "We are frantically trying to find alternative accommodation for that weekend. We were told by the General Secretary's
Office at 3.30pm on Friday that with immediate effect the College could not
hold courses or meetings!"
The claim is that that the health and safety problems are so severe that they had to close the college immediately. Apparently the issues are fire extinguishers in the main block being below spec, no fire escape on the upper floor of one building and no smoke detectors in any of the accommodation rooms.
A course student and union member told amicus.cc
"These 'so-called' H&S issues were identified while a course was taking place, and the participants not notified. I've attended the college several times over the last ten years and have seen the improvements in that time, not least due to the donations of ASTMS and MSF branches and Regional Councils. It has become more apparent since the merger that the members are being marginalized, not that we were ever in any doubt this would happen. Quite frankly, I'm disgusted by the members of the General Purposes and Finance Committee lackeys to allow this to happen."
Les Bayliss, Simpson favourite and tip for future General Secretary, is the mastermind behind the closure plan - he has offered staff gardening leave or voluntary redundancy. The union has followed up with a threat of less favourable redundancy in the future if staff don't accept the offer.
An Executive Committee member commented "Given that Unifi & GPMU are to join us we need to have more facilities like Whitehall not less." Good job the Unify merger is on hold then. Meanwhile the campaign to keep Whitehall open begins.
[Derek Simpson] The Mothball Memo
[amicus.cc] Previous story - Whitehall in Happier Times
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 11th September 2004
Pensioner blocks super-union deal
The merger between amicus and Unifi could be delayed by up to six months as a result of a Unifi pensioner's complaint to the Trade Union Certification Officer. The complaint relates to the handling of the ballot and amicus' blantantly ageist rule book, foisted on the union by the de-elected General Secretary Sir Ken Jackson.
Unifi did not take the extreme step of culling their retired members like the GPMU union did. The two unions are left looking red faced as they formally announced the merger on Tuesday.
NB. the Certification Officer was created by the 1978 Labour Government not the Tories as this Times article has it.
Meanwhile the academically discredited 'service model' or 'credit card' vision of trade unionism lives on in Unifi, their joint General Secretary Rory Murphy stated
"If we can't persuade workers to join the union in the first place, maybe we can sell them information. We insure our house, car, even pets - why don't we insure our employment status? That's what unions do."
[Times] Pensioner blocks super-union deal
[Belfast Telegraph] Union merger 'historic'
[Times] Amicus and Unifi merge to create super-union
[Personnel Today] Interview with Rory Murphy
New! [Scotsman] Union Merger Delayed
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 19th August 2004
Expelled amicus Member Awarded £5,700 Compensation
Some 2 1/2 years after being illegally expelled from the union over his website www.rogerlyons.com, David Beaumont finally won an award of £5,700 compensation at the Employment Appeal Tribunal last week. Ironically much of the award amount is down to the behaviour of Roger Lyons himself; although the Executive re-instated David following his legal action, the incompetent ex-General Secretary did not write to David's branch or Regional Council, meaning the union had failed to take all steps necessary to reverse the expulsion.
David had previously been awarded £1,381 in costs at an Employment Tribunal on the same matter. The £5,700 award secures the future of both the amicus.cc and rogerlyons.com websites.
[Employment Appeal Tribunal] Decision
[David Beaumont] Skeleton argument
[amicus.cc] Previous story 'Employment Tribunal Victory'
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 11th August 2004
Mass Cull of Old GPMU Members Achieves Desired Result
The print union GPMU has announced the result of their ballot of members to merge with amicus.
The result was a large majority in favour, not surprising after the GPMU conducted a mass expulsion of 57,000 retired members before the ballot. Most of these 57,000 people would have voted against the merger and the total vote of all members in favour was a much smaller 26,976. A further 9,803 GPMU members would have preferred to merge with the T&GWU.
Although all 57,000 retired members were actually culled on one savage day in 2003 (June 30th),
most of them didn't find out until nearly a year later when they received a
circular letter from the General Secretary Tony Dubbins, dated 4 March 2004!
[HR Gateway] Amicus set for UK union dominance
[GPMU] Full ballot results
[amicus] GPMU announces overwhelming Amicus vote
[Trade Union Certification Office] Decision on GPMU mass expulsion
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 11th August 2004
Unison Almost Gets Radical
Four union General Secretaries will tomorrow back an amicus survey designed to influence the Labour Party's National Policy Forum this week.
Derek Simpson of amicus: "This survey shows a dangerous disenchantment by Labour Party activists with fundamental aspects of the government’s agenda."
Tony Woodley of the TGWU "The gap between the leadership and the grassroots of the Party has never been wider."
GMB General Secretary, Kevin Curran: "It’s time to be radical."
Dave Prentis, Unison General Secretary: "The Government must listen to its natural supporters."
Current news headline on Unison's website? "Huge reductions are available for stays at the union's award winning holiday village".
[Press Association] Trade Union policies are a key to success
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 20th July 2004
Previous stories
Lyons the long goodbye, Simpson's helicopter ride, MI5 vetting of union staff, General Secretary Lyons forced out, Jackson fails to get peerage, Minister gets slapped wrist for £50,000 AEEU scam, Hugh MacGrillen, Bob Braddock - an apology, Jackson pockets £220,000, Gerrymandered! - NEC election results, DGS Anderson apologises to GMB, Houliston caught with smoking nomination forms, Chowcat payoff finally disclosed - £1/2 million, Minister failed to declare £4,500 a year amicus 'benefit', and more...
[previous stories]
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 28th September 2004
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Witch Hunt!
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