19th October 2003

Chowcat payoff finally disclosed

Jim Mortimer, ex-General Secretary of the Labour Party, has finally uncovered the secret payoff made by the union to Assistant General Secretary Chowcat four years ago.

Jim had doggedly pursued this matter on behalf of amicus London Region. Although the right to inspect financial records is enshrined in the union's rule book and in law, it required a full hearing of the Trade Union Certification Officer (CO) to get the amounts. Even after the CO ruling the union only provided the cash payment amount; on further probing Jim discovered that the union had also paid the tax and Mr Chowcat's pension, and given away a car.

Previous guestimates of £200,000 proved wide of the mark: Chowcat was paid benefits totalling nearly £1/2 million of members' money. Here are the figures:

Cash payment £156,800
Tax on payment paid by union £88,000
Pension boost £169,000
Total £413,800

In addition, Chowcat's union-provided car was thrown in. This payoff resulted from the scandal of General Secretary Roger Lyons' massive expense claims, cf links below.
[Guardian] Lyons and the 25p bun
[rogerlyons.com] FAQ
[John Chowcat] Evidence to the Marcia Solomon tribunal
[amicus.cc] Is MSF a corrupt organisation?
[amicus.cc] Previous story 'Books Inspectors seek CO resolution'
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 19th October 2003