5th June 2003

Suspension of Vince Butler

Vince Butler, former senior MSF representative of the Rolls Royce Ansty site, has become the latest victim of the Right's long running witch hunt in MSF. He was suspended by recorded delivery letter from holding any office within Amicus.

The letter to relates to the operations of the Rolls Royce Ansty Strike Funds during the dispute of 2001, when 900 MSF members took industrial action in protest at the export of their jobs to Montreal, Canada. It states that Vince Butler failed to provide information to an NEC investigation panel. The facts of the case are as follows:

Vince Butler was approached, at the time of the dispute in 2001, by the Regional Officer covering the Ansty site to provide details on monies paid into the strike fund.

This information was provided to the full time official, but the details were not audited at this time, as the Ansty Joint Office Committee elected auditiors had left the company under the terms of the redundancy programme.

Vince Butler was unfairly selected for redundancy on the grounds of trade union activity in September 2001. At this point he ceased to be the Senior Represenative at the site and had no access to or responsibility for site funds. He is currently awaiting a tribunal for unfair dismissal, which is to be held in July 2003.

A new Senior Representative was elected for the Rolls Royce Ansty site and he provided copies of the audited stike fund details to the Rolls Royce Ansty Regional Officer in 2001.

In January 2002 the NEC established an Investigation Panel into the Ansty Strike fund

At no point has Vince Butler been informed of this investigation or contacted to provide any information to this Investigation Panel. He knows of its existance only through the NEC minutes. No other existing elected officials at the Rolls-Royce Ansty site have been contacted to provide details to the Investigation Panel. No one from the Ansty site has been invited to attend any meetings of the Investigation Panel or been asked to provide information to it.

Vince Butler is the only individual suspended under the terms of this investigation, despite the fact he no longer has access to details or accounts at the Ansty site and has not been in employment there since September 2001.

Contact Vince on vince@vbutler25.freeserve.co.uk
[The letter]
Posted by www.rogerlyons.com on 5th June 2003