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Members attacked by 'theAmicusBod'
A fulltime officer of the union has been posting some quite disgraceful messages to the MSF Health Sector notice board, including telling members that they are seeing the world "through shit tinted spectacles", that they are talking a "load of crap", suggesting to a member 'extract your head from your backside' and making bizarre jokes about toilet paper: "No more Kitten soft Dixel and we have to use real kittens".

'TheAmicusBod', alias amicus Researcher/Organiser Keith Hutson, was appointed in March with money raised thanks to donations from branches and regions. The job spec requires that the employee is

"able to communicate orally or in writing in any situation in a form or manner that is clear, accurate, concise, sensitive and appropriate to the audience and purpose".

Judge for yourself here. One member commented 'Is this what my branch donated £1,000 for? Disgusted'.

Agenda for Change (A4C)is the big issue in the health sector at the moment, with large numbers of members facing pay cuts. Many of these believe 'Amicusbod' has made it a mission to rubbish people who are opposed to Agenda for Change, making totally unprofessional personal attacks on them.

The MSF Health Sector Members notice board is managed by, amongst others, amicus National Executive member and Right-winger Dave Houliston and leading light of MSF For Labour Dan Smith. The offending messages have been belatedly removed but we have obtained copies. TheAmicusBod's latest posting, yesterday, was restricted to a single word. The rating level for the notice board is "Appropriate for all ages".
[MSN] theAmicusBod Speaks
[MSN] A typical member's response
[MSN] Health Sector Members notice board
[RepsDirect] Job Spec (acrobat file)
[RepsDirect] Appointment notice (acrobat file)
[slt-afc.latest-info.com] Speech & Language Therapists A4C Information
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 12th August 2003

RE: MSF rule 56 (Inspection of books) - Bob Braddock
From: david@johmar.com
Sent: 10 July 2003 10:56
To: lyonsr@msf.org.uk; roger.lyons@amicus-m.org; Alex.Mckenna@amicus-m.org; Marion.Watson-Blake@amicus-m.org
Cc: RDOBSON@acas.org.uk
Subject: RE: MSF rule 56 (Inspection of books) - Bob Braddock

Mr Braddock's solicitors have brought to my attention the following section from my private email to you, (below):  "I believe Mr Braddock is effectively drawing a salary from the union which is in my opinion corrupt and a breach of his high positions."

I did not mean to defame Mr Braddock by this statement and I hereby confirm that this section is withdrawn without reservation. 

If you forwarded my email to any persons please also forward this withdrawal.

Thanks

David Beaumont

PS it is now 34 days since my original request to inspect the books on this matter, outside the legal requirement of 28 days.  Please confirm whether you intend to comply or not. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: david@johmar.com [mailto:david@johmar.com]
> Sent: 06 June 2003 15:29
> To: lyonsr@msf.org.uk; roger.lyons@amicus-m.org;
> Alex.Mckenna@amicus-m.org; Marion.Watson-Blake@amicus-m.org
> Cc: RDOBSON@acas.org.uk; Bbraddock@Merseymail. Com
> Subject: MSF rule 56 (Inspection of books) - Bob Braddock
>
>
> cc Trade Union Certification Officer
>
> As per MSF rule 56 (Inspection of Books) and the Trade Union and
> Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 I hereby request access
> to accounting records of my union.  I wish to see the amicus
> MSF accounting records to do with expense claims by NEC member
> and Chair of the General Purposes and Finance Committee Bob
> Braddock, for the period 2000 to date.  For clarification this is
> for loss-of-earnings claims AND all other expenses.  Furthermore
> I wish see accounting records relating to all payments and
> donations to Mr Braddock's 'employer', the Merseyside Unemployed
> Centre, of which I believe Mr Braddock is Director. 
>
> As you know in 2001 Mr Braddock made a complaint to do with my
> publication of his expense claims (at some £25,000 over the last
> 5 years, the highest loss-of-earnings in the union).  His
> complaint against me led directly to my expulsion from my union,
> which was subsequently revoked and declared illegal at the
> Employment Tribunal in London on 14th October 2002.  I have never
> received an apology from Mr Braddock regarding his false
> complaint, I believe all my statements in respect of Mr
> Braddock's high expense claims are correct and I wish to verify
> this from the accounting records.   Furthermore I understand that
> my union donated an additional £11,000 this year alone to the
> organisation of which Mr Braddock is a Director. I believe Mr
> Braddock is effectively drawing a salary from the union which is
> in my opinion corrupt and a breach of his high positions. I
> suspect he is drawing significant amounts of additional money
> from my union in other expense claims and wish to determine that matter.
>
> I am required by law to give you 28 days notice of this request
> which I hereby do. 
>
> Please acknowledge receipt of this request.
>
> David Beaumont (member)
      
[Full Story] All the Correspondence
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 4th August 2003

'Wish you were here' - Lyons in the sun
Amicus Spare General Secretary Roger Lyons has been promoting the union again, in his unique inimitable way. The Daily Mail caught Lyons and Family on a visit to Hungary courtesy of their trade unions:

"They are staying in two air-conditioned VIP rooms on the seventh floor, both with stunning views. Each morning they enjoy a leisurely, hour long breakfast before setting off on varied excursions around the city, or to the surrounding countryside. With temperatures in the high 90s the family went for a swim before going out to dinner."

Lyons has denied it was a holiday, saying

"This is not a proper holiday. I'm here as a guest of Hungarian trade unionists and am working very hard. I work 24-seven. I'd much rather be on the beach but it's not always possible when you do a job like mine."

Lyons has 'previous' for using his union credit card to finance holidays, according to the union's auditors HW Fisher in a secret report:

"Detailed examination of the attached documents covering relatively short periods of time...points to evidence of..the use by R A Lyons of a union-reimbursed credit card to pay for personal and family expenditure on meals, groceries, alcohol, holiday travel and dining, electrical goods, books and other items." HW Fisher Details

[Daily Mail] far away ... a union boss suns himself
[rogerlyons.com] Previous holiday expenditure by Lyons
[HW Fisher] The full auditors report
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 1st August 2003

Lyons: £20K Pay Deal, because he's worth it?
There are unconfirmed reports that Spare General Secretary Roger Lyons has been given a £20,000 pay rise at last week's Joint Executive Committee (JEC) meeting. The JEC is so tightly packed with Right-wingers that no one will confirm it, but it is expected to be in this Sunday's tabloids.

Today we publish full details of the scandal surrounding Lyon's payoff, which, if the £20K is true, will amount close on half a million pounds. In a 'private and confidential' deal with the NEC, published here, Lyons will effectively step down in September 2003 but continue to get his full pay and benefits until August 2007.

An increase of £20,000 a year would bring Lyon's package up to £110,171, the highest paid union leader in the country.
[Full Story] 'Secret clauses' no more
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 25th July 2003

Sweetheart deal leaves bitter taste
In the Manchester Electricians Dispute, eleven TGWU members have been sacked. They were working on the Piccadilly Gardens building site. The main contractor is the multinational corporation 'Carrillion', and the sub-contractor is DAF Electrical.

The eleven were members of the EPIU section of the TGWU. They were locked out in May for belonging to the TGWU and trying to assert their rights. The treatment they received included non-payment of wages/holiday pay, reneging on a promise to take the members on as directly employed, victimisation of activists, and the use of unskilled (cheap) labour to undertake skilled electrical work.

The employer is part of the Electrical Contractors Association, which is in turn part of the fake union the "Joint Industry Board" (JIB), with Amicus, the result of a sweetheart deal with the forerunners of amicus.
[Hansard] JIB "a sweetheart deal between employers and the union"
[amicus.cc] Sample motion for amicus branches
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 23rd July 2003

Train drivers' union turns right
Yesterday Mick Rix was unexpectedly deposed as leader of the Aslef rail union by a train driver who campaigned from the right; Shaun Brady, promising to "take the union back to the membership", comfortably beat the sitting general secretary in a postal ballot.

Mr Rix's defeat stunned his allies in the Labour party and TUC. A key strategist close to the grouping described the result as "catastrophic" and a "blow to the whole of the left out of proportion to the size of Aslef".
[Guardian] Leftwing suffers blow as train drivers' union turns right
[ASLEF] ASLEF elects new general secretary
New! [Independent] Man accused of sex harassment is voted railway union chief
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 18th July 2003, updated 21st July 2003

Fujitsu threatens de-recognition
AMICUS members at Fujitsu Services, West Gorton, Manchester have exhausted negotiations with their employer, and are preparing to ballot on industrial action. The issues involved include union recognition, victimisation of union officers, redundancy agreements and a pay claim.

In essence, Fujitsu is trying to de-recognise Amicus. Many of the members work in call centres and - contrary to the 'fat cat' image some people have about computing workers - get no more than £15,000 a year.

The company has offered pay rises beginning with NIL per cent for a third of the workforce. In addition, the company is threatening redundancies as part of reorganisation, denying workers union rights of union representation and threatening to sack a union rep.

Please send messages of support to support@ourunion.org.uk. The Amicus branch at Fujitsu has a good tradition of supporting others, from the Ambulance workers, Liverpool Dockers, MANCAT, FBU to Bolton Hospitals.
[amicus] Amicus Fujitsu West Gorton Group
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 17th July 2003

Lyons Announces Early Retirement
Today Roger Lyons announced his 'retirement' as Spare General Secretary of amicus, well ahead of his maximum date of 2007. Ex-members of Lyons' right wing cabal had confirmed that he would be announcing it this weekend.

Lyons, with Twenty Five Thousand Bob Braddock's 'expert assistance' had tried to extend his contract to remain as MSF General Secretary until August 2007. This would almost certainly have been judged illegal; the contractual fiddle meant that Lyons could avoid the inconvenience of having to be re-elected, as required by law, for his last term of office. He probably knew that such an election would have seen him travel down the same lonely road to oblivion as his dear old friend Sir Two Jobs Jackson, spectacularly ousted by Derek Simpson last year.

MSF National Executive Committee (NEC) member Dave Hutchinson tried his best to point out such a contract broke both the law and union rules but Lyons and his cronies apparently thought they could bluff it out. How wrong they were! Hutchinson put an unbeatable complaint to the Trade Union Certification Officer (CO) and it now seems that rather than have the CO decide his fate Lyons has decided to jump ship, attempting to retain at least some of his tattered dignity. He has been forced to accept his previous contract, agreed in 2001, which sees him formally retire in December 2004. However Lyons wishes to serve his last year as President of the TUC which means he will gone by September 2003.

Amicus head office are now officially confirming the early retirement. Dave Hutchinson wouldn't comment on Lyons imminent departure but did say that he had warned Lyons' supporters on the NEC that Lyons had no credible answer to his complaint and was bound to lose the case:

"I'm sorry it had to come to this. I did try to get the issue discussed by the NEC but they didn't want to know. I found it disgraceful that they punished many MSF members by their contemptible mis-use of the rule book - yet here, where there was clear and flagrant violation of the rules and of the law they were happy to condone it. Hypocrisy on a grand scale."

Newspaper stories and 'obituaries' will be posted below as they are published, check back tomorrow.
[amicus.cc] Original story 'Lyons on his way'
[Guardian] Blair loyalist to stand down
[rogerlyons.com] Roger Lyons tribute site
New! [Pompous Roger] Lyons' actual resignation address
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 11th July 2003, updated 13th July 2003

Previous stories
Rulebook accepted, Conference report, Fat Cat Lyons, Inside 'MSF for Labour', Senior Officials Guilty in Election Rigging Scandal, Branches Ordered Not to Support 'Stop The War', amicus MPs' War voting record, Lyons 30% pay application, Private Eye and more...
[previous stories]
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 11th April 2003