Tribune

Editorial 21/7/00

Lyons should go

PRIVATELY, just about every trade union leader agrees: the general secretary of MSF, Roger Lyons, is a gross embarrassment to the trade union movement and should resign. Tribune is prepared to save their blushes and demand that Lyons step down immediately.

His antics with expenses claims may have entertained many who have never heard of him, but in a period when the trade unions have minimal public presence, the MSF general secretary risks becoming one of the few union barons the public recognises.

The union has already spent £750,000 in warding off a series of unfair dismissal cases, and that figure may rise to nearly £1 million. The allegations made by former staff members and officials in court are extremely disturbing, yet so is the knowledge that this massive drain of MSF's meagre resources could cripple the union's general fund and possibly affect its pension fund arrangements.

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