25th July 2003

'Secret Clauses' No More

There are unconfirmed reports that Spare General Secretary Roger Lyons was awarded a £20,000 pay rise at last weeks 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.

Judith Box, a solid Right-winger and member of the JEC and MSF National Executive (NEC), was asked about this last Saturday at the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Council meeting. This was after her JEC/NEC report back to them. She point blank refused to report back on this, to cries from the delegates of 'who do you think you are?' and 'disgraceful'.

It was widely reported in February this year that Lyons had put in for a 30% pay rise , although MSF's General Purposes and Finance Committee rejected it. An award of £20K by the JEC would bring Lyon's package up to £110,171, an increase of 25.3% on his current basic salary, and the highest pay in any UK Trade Union. We calculate it would also bring his yearly pension up to around £73,000, pretty close to retiring on his current basic salary.

This may account for why the NEC paid in an extra half million pounds of members' money into the staff pension scheme in January.

Lyons has a 'private and confidential' contract amendment, (we publish it here), which means that despite effectively retiring in September this year, he will continue to be paid his full salary and benefits until August 2007. Moreover he will also benefit from any pay rises General Secretary Derek Simpson gets in this period (Simpson has recently declined an increase). If the £20K is true this comes to a staggering £440,684 pay off!

In echoes of disgraced US President Nixon's famous 'no whitewash at the Whitehouse' speech, Lyons stated at the time of the last General Secretary retirement in 1992:

"I want to assure the membership that while I am General Secretary there will be no questions of any 'cover-ups'. All contracts etc will be agreed by the lay membership and properly reported." "There are no secret clauses and that is how it will remain while I am General Secretary" Full document

Indeed in 1992 Lyon's original contract was made available, on request, and we publish it here. At that time, in a covering letter the NEC stated:

"The NEC is committed to a policy of open information and full democratic accountability. In this spirit, the NEC is pleased to advise all branches of the completion of agreement on the Contract of Employment for the New General Secretary, Roger Lyons....there is no question whatsoever of any 'secret' clauses which previous NECs allowed to develop.." Full document

However memories fade, and by 2001 Lyons had negotiated just such a 'secret clause' with Sir Ken Jackson, previous GS of the AEEU, brokered by John Gardner, then head of MSF's GPFC. Basically Lyons would agree to go in September 2003 but still get paid until August 2007. This change to Lyons' contract was slipped through at a special 'meeting of NEC members' (only 11 people present as opposed to the usual 50) who happened to be present at the TUC Congress in September 2001. We have obtained the minutes of this meeting, they conclude:

"Roger had indicated that he would consider stepping down after his year as president of the TUC, provided his contractual terms were respected. The chair of the GPFC, John Gardner had taken legal advice, and had agreed terms with Roger Lyons, who would retire from office on 31 December 2004, with his agreed contractual terms, details of which were put before the NEC members present" Full document

A rather misleading minute as it could be read that Lyons is retiring on his original terms whereas actually the 'secret clause' to pay him into 2007 is being agreed.

All this is exactly the sort of hypocrisy and greed we need to get rid of in this union, if you feel outraged by this, the most important action is to win control of the National Executive this year, click below to donate to the national Left (Amicus Unity Gazette) election campaign or click here for further information.

Documents in this article
['secret clause'] The amendment that pays Lyons into 2007
[Lyons' assurance] No 'secret clauses' - Lyons
[NEC's assurance] No 'secret clauses' - NEC
[NEC's 'meeting'] 'secret clauses' slipped through at NEC 'meeting'

[Lyons' contract] His original non-secret contract
[amicus.cc] Graph of Lyons salary before the increase
[rogerlyons.com] The tribute web site
[Personnel Today] Bosses Guide to Trade Union leaders
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 25th July 2003