Defend jobs & UNITE the union

UNITE members at IT Services giant Fujitsu need your support.Manchester members have voted for a third time to strike in the long running dispute, following 27 previous strike days.  Members are opposing Compulsory Redundancies, opposing victimisation of their union reps, and demanding that Fujitsu honours its redundancy agreements.

Six Manchester members have been fighting their redundancy.  Of the six, a majority were ethnic minority, a majority were disabled, two were union reps and one had complained of sexual harassment linked to her selection.  Fujitsu dismissed Saj Patel despite jobs being available in her
department and her grievance not being heard.  The third of the six was dismissed on New Year’s Eve.  Fujitsu wrote to Ian Allinson, chair of Unite @ Fujitsu in the UK, while he was on
compassionate leave attending a family funeral to tell him he will be dismissed on 12 January despite having an outstanding internal job application.

Ian is one of three reps fighting victimisation. Ian is in a tiny fake redundancy selection pool where the company cut 100% of the jobs. Ian has worked at Fujitsu for 30 years and has led union growth there since the early 1990s. Fujitsu stopped Lynne Hodge doing most of her job in May 2016 and
told colleagues not to work with her. Denis Morris was selected for redundancy on the basis of scoring that mainly focused on his rep role and disability, not his skills, knowledge etc.

Fujitsu Services Limited, the main UK company, remains profitable, and one director got £1.635m last year, up 13%.  Fujitsu planned to cut 1800 UK jobs through offshoring, automation and outsourcing. First it terminated the UK works council through which the company had agreed
enhanced redundancy terms/protection leaving little more than statutory redundancy terms for the majority, removing the incentive for Fujitsu to retrain and redeploy rather than making avoidable compulsory redundancies.

We have always given and received great solidarity.  We are asking for your support now

UNITE says support Ian Allinson at Fujitsu

SUPPORT Ian Allinson ! :

THE ‘DISCRIMINATION’ of union reps sparks 11 days of strike action at Fujitsu in Manchester 11TH, January  -  More than 250 Unite members in Manchester have voted for 11 days of strike action at IT giant Fujitsu in one of the longest running industrial disputes in the UK.  One of the features of this dispute has been a ‘victimisation culture’ of union reps, which has included the dismissal of Unite rep of 26 years standing Ian Allinson read more   Keep up to date with Unite: Our union in Fujitsu website.

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Ian Allinson's Thoughts for Unite's Future etc.

by Ian Allinson

MY provisional thoughts are that we should establish some ongoing organisation within Unite. I think it is important that this isn’t primarily focused on elections – it shouldn’t be a rival to the United Left, but occupy a position more like the Construction Rank and File which includes members who are and are not United Left supporters.  Though I disagreed with their stance, many good activists have backed Len McCluskey in the current election and members need all of us to work together after the election.
If its focus isn’t internal elections, what could such an organisation do? Some possibilities, depending on the views and commitment of those involved, could include:

1. Putting like-minded activists in touch with each other on the basis of region, industry or issue.
2. Acting as an umbrella organisation supporting groups of activists in particular industries pushing for a more robust approach to specific industrial issues e.g. to reject bad deals, raise neglected issues or challenge partnership arrangements.
3. If I’m not elected as General Secretary, can we as activists implement some of the pledges anyway? For example a regular bulletin highlighting disputes, campaigns and other information; or collecting case studies of our successes?
4. Campaigning to change Unite Policies and Rules.
5. Getting experts and activists together to thrash out effective responses to specific issues affecting many sectors e.g. performance management.

In addition to the issues raised in the election campaign, many members have been raising the need to reform Unite’s election processes, for example:

• Control of campaign spending. Are the huge sums spent by the two establishment candidates in this campaign external interference in our democratic process? Or are they from Unite funds? Does anyone seriously think members expect hundreds of thousands of pounds of their money to be spent promoting candidates rather than promoting their interests?
• A level playing field on access to and use of branch, activist and member data to strike the right balance between trying to engage members and preventing them being spammed by candidates with privileged access.
• Official hustings so that all members can engage directly with the debates.
• Change from First Past The Post to Single Transferable Vote (as used by many unions) so members can vote for the candidates they want without fear of “splitting the vote?

 Many of the ideas put forward in our campaign have gained wide support – not just from those who voted for me.

• All meaningful change comes from below, and all meaningful change is the result of collective effort. So how can we most effectively take forward our ideas after the campaign?
  The ian4unite campaign is organising four post-election meetings to discuss this. If you want to push forward the broad agenda I’m campaigning for you are welcome at these meetings no matter who you have supported in the election:
  
• Saturday 6 May: 1:30 – 3pm, Avant Garde, 34-44 King Street Glasgow G1 5QT [Facebook event]
  
• Sunday 7 May: 2-4pm, Peterloo Room, Mechanics Centre, 103 Princess St (Major St entrance), Manchester, M1 6DD [Facebook event]
• Saturday 13 May: Alumni Lecture Theatre, Room 110, SOAS Senate House, Paul Webley Wing, Malet Street, London, WC1 7HU [Facebook event]
• Sunday 14 May: 3-5pm, Briar Rose, 25 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham B2 5RE [Facebook event]

Download leaflet for post-election meetings

Unite's Len McCluskey Wins on a Low turn-out

by Brian Bamford

LEN McCluskey, the incumberant, and the favourite to win the election for general secretary of the Unite union, has been re-elected leader.  Yet the victory was much closer than anticipated:
McCluskey won 59,067 votes (45.4%), Gerard Coyne got 53,544 (41.5%) and the rank and file candidate Ian Allinson took 17,143 (13.1%), on a low turnout of just over 12%, the union announced.
The Coyne team was hoping for a high turnout of up to 20% of the membership, which they believed would have ensured a surprise victory.   McCluskey’s vote dropped from 144,570 in 2013 when the turnout was nearly 15%.
As a consequence of these figures the result cannot be seen as a ringing endorsement of the trade unionism or of their influence in British society.  Even among its own membership the Unite union has struggled to interest the members sufficiently to vote for a leader who might cast a shadow over political life.  And if the union leaders cannot even involve their own members in a significant way for such an event as a union election, why indeed should the general public listen to their leaders' deliberations on social or political matters?
It looks like McCluskey has got 60% less of the vote he got in 2013:  144,570 in 2013 down to 59,067 votes in 2017.
Today, The Guardian website reports:
'Coyne’s camp will this weekend take legal advice over unsent and late ballot papers and what they see as a flawed electoral process.
'Coyne, who ran a campaign alleging that McCluskey was misspending members’ money and was too involved in national politics, responded to the result with a statement calling for McCluskey to change the way the union was run.'
Gerard Coyne is now saying:
'The union machine consistently attempted to bully and intimidate me, something that has continued even after the close of polls.'
'Turnout has fallen disastrously. Many members have reported to me that they did not get their ballot paper at all or, if they did, that it arrived literally on the day polls closed and so was useless. This was no vote of confidence, with falling turnout and a halving of Len McCluskey’s previous vote.'
Wil Hutton on The Guardian website on the 9th, April, arguing that the British left is in 'a malaise', wrote;
 'The brutal truth is that trade unions need root-and-branch reinvention to attract new members. Then, from the legitimacy won by having a base of rising membership, they could start to insist on the rewriting of fairer laws that incorporate new forms of collective bargaining and participation and so recast the increasingly high-risk, low-quality character of the British workplace. McCluskey, like the current Labour leadership he so generously but misguidedly backs, is nowhere near thinking through what is needed.'
I have listened to the arguments for McCluskey and they fixate upon his links to the old left, that he once was a supporter of Militant and he once had a job in the docks in Liverpool.  But I believe my branch members - the members of Bury Unite Commercial Branch - were right to nominate Ian Allinson and get him on the ballot paper to open up a debate and deny McCluskey a coronation.  They were right to do that even though Ian Allinson was a rank outsider.  But in the same way and for the same reasons I agree with the economist Wil Hutton, when he writes 'Coyne is at least attempting to open up the debate about how Unite can grow. The union has an income of £170m; Coyne calls for more transparency in how this money is spent, disputing sweetheart deals backing Jeremy Corbyn'.
It is also clear for anyone who gives the matter any serious thought, that Wil Hutton is right when he argues: 'McCluskey, Corbyn, John McDonnell and the leaders of Momentum are not moving beyond slogans and their preoccupation is less with winning power than hard wiring ancient and outmoded left positions into union and party policies that turn Labour into an unelectable social movement.'
It is not that the old British left is too radical, it is that they are too conservative.  The minds of these men McCluskey, Corbyn and McDonnell are the minds of men who have gramaphone records for brains whose needles have become stuck.  Such men are inadequately placed to solve the current social and political problems.

Yesterday's men (& woman) back Mr. Coyne,

 as Coyne Calls for a Unite union Clean Up

CALLING for a 'clean up' of the Unite union Gerard Coyne, one of the candidates in the Unite election for General Secretary, wrote on his Blog:

'Your union takes more than £150 million of subscription money from members every year. I do not believe there is enough openness about how your money is spent. You deserve better, so I will give members like you oversight of Unite’s finances. Vote Gerard Coyne now and clean up Unite.'

***

Meanwhile, on Wednesday 5 April 2017 three former union bosses; Roger Lyons Former general secretary, Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union; Bill Morris Former general secretary, Transport and General Workers Union and Margaret Prosser Former president, Trades Union Congress wrote a letter to The Guardian:
'We believe that strong unions are essential to public life and that they are both the best and the last defence of working people against abuse and exploitation. With Brexit adding to the pressures on working people and injecting huge additional instability into the economy, it is essential unions are able to exert the maximum industrial strength....
'Our labour movement always needs to be engaged in renewal and in searching out new ideas and new methods to advance its aims. Gerard Coyne is the candidate who can do most to deliver new ideas and reinvigorate our movement at a supremely difficult moment.'

 Gerard Coyne 'bringing union's name into disrepute'?

There have been criticisms from Coyne that has annoyed Len McCluskey’s supporters, for whom loyalty to the union means not bringing its name into disrepute.
McCluskey, a former employee in Liverpool’s dockyards, has the advantage of a national profile, as well as being a formidable operator at branch level.
His campaign has won the largest number of nominations ever, including from defence workers at the Faslane and Coulport naval bases in Scotland and the Barrow shipyards in Cumbria – despite Corbyn’s opposition to Trident renewal.

Voting ends on the 19th, April, and Coyne has a tough fight before him.  Rupert Murdoch's The Sun newspaper may be backing Coyne, but the Mirror and Morning Star have lined up behind McCluskey.  Most of the apparatus and officers of the Unite union have been seemingly marshalled behind Len McCluskey.
Supporters of Coyne believe there is still a chance of victory, if they can get a higher turnout of Unite’s 1.4 million members to vote.  The low turnout in union elections – 15.2% voted in the 2013 general secretary contest – hands disproportionate influence to its radical activists, many of whom may see McCluskey as too rightwing.

Ian Allinson condemns 'treacherous role of some union officials' 

The third candidate and shopfloor activist, Ian Allinson, may take votes from McCluskey.  On the blacklist in the British building trade, Ian Allinson has said:
'It is great that Len McCluskey has backed calls for an enquiry, but the gap between the blacklisted workers’ view of the evidence and his own is worrying. 
'McCluskey says: “While new evidence has unfolded in the High Court proceedings it is not the case that this evidence points towards present or previous union officials”.
'It is hard to believe that the employers’ blacklist could be as extensive and long-lasting as it was without the treacherous role played by some union officials.'

Commenting on the recent Unite / UCATT merger Mr. Allinson calls on Unite to clean out the stable: 'UK construction workers have, for the first time, the possibility of being organised in one big united union, apart from small numbers of workers in GMB.  However, if the merger takes place at a purely formal and bureaucratic level, the chance to extend real democracy and rank and file control would be lost.  Worse still if we missed the chance to clean the Augean stable of the complicity and corruption which has robbed union activists of their livelihoods and wrecked families.'

Rank & File labelled 'A Cancer'!

Len McCluskey has been in office as the General Secretary of Unite sine 2011, yet what has he done about the alleged crooked officials in the union?  We know from what is being said by the lads on the job, is that many believe that the blacklist in the British building industry is alive and kicking!
When the rank and file make achievements and score victories it is often in spite of the officer class rather than because of them.  But it is often the officer class that claims the credit.
As Ian Allinson has pointed out:
'Construction activists have shown that grassroots democratic movements, the Construction Rank and File and the Blacklist Support Group, have begun to make officials accountable as well as building the beginnings of a real fighting union at workplace and sector level.'
Very often the rank and file campaign has been denounced by the officer class, and it was once describe as 'a cancer' by one trade union functionary still in office. 
Coyne is right the Unite union needs cleaning up!  More precisely it needs an officer class that is answerable to to its members.

Allinson on BBC 2 Daily Politics!

Workplace activist, Ian Allinson, who is standing as a "grassroots socialist" candidate for the position of General Secretary, of the trade union, Unite, was interviewed yesterday by Jo Coburn, on the BBC2 'Daily Politics' show. Both Gerard Coyne and Len McCluskey, who are also standing in this election, declined to appear.

Allinson, is the only candidate in this election who is not a full-time paid trade union official. An employee of the global tech firm Fujitsu, in Manchester, and a trade union convenor, he is the underdog in this election having fewer branch nominations than the other two candidates. If elected, as General Secretary of Unite, Allinson has vowed to forgo the six figure salary that goes with the job and to work for his current pay. He also wants to see all Unite officials elected, rather than appointed.

Questioned by Coburn about being the favoured candidate of the 'Socialist Workers Party' (SWP), Allison said that he had a broad range of support within Unite. Nevertheless, Allinson's political background is within the SWP.

During the run up to the election, there has been a certain amount of mudslinging between two of the candidates. Gerard Coyne, the West Midlands, Regional Secretary of Unite, accused McCluskey of taking a loan off the Union to buy a property in London and  he claims that McCluskey, is more interested in Jeremy Corbyn, and the Labour Party, rather than Unite members. His brother, Kevin Coyne, is  also a national officer of Unite.  

Coyne, is seen as the candidate of the Labour right and the one candidate who is most acceptable to New Labour and the bosses. He was recently given column inches in Rupert Murdoch's "Sun" newspaper, to present his election address, entitled - "I'll get your union back." He says in his election address to Unite members - "Just last year, Unite put £417,000 of your money into a luxury London apartment for his (McCluskey's) personal use."

Writing for the Murdoch press, is hardly likely to endear Coyne to many British trade unionists, given the way in which, the Murdoch press have vilified trade unionists over the years. Rupert Murdoch also backed Donald Trump in the U.S. Presidential elections and News International, was also embroiled in the phone-hacking scandal.

Unite have stated that the loan made to McCluskey was a -"shared equity arrangement made with officials required to move to London with the property being sold after the official left the post." However, prior financial assistance of £90,000 was given to McCluskey in 1994, to buy a house with his then partner, Jennie Formby. In 2013, Formby was appointed Unite's political director on a salary of £75,000.

Len McCluskey, has been General Secretary of Unite since 2011 and until his resignation, in December 2016. In his election address, McCluskey says - "I'm overwhelmed that nearly 1200 branches - more than 80% of the total - have nominated me... I regret that this election has been marred by so many smears and lies by Mr Coyne, aided by the right-wing anti-union media, designed to undermine your union to further his own ambitions..."

Yesterday, on 'Daily Politics', Allinson said that he felt that Unite had not put up enough fight against government austerity policies and the recent Trade Union Bill. Like many Trotskyists, he believes that English workers are always itching for a fight but are being restrained and held back by the likes of trade union leaders, like McCluskey. He said that he was in favour of the free movement of labour across countries and opposed Trident. He feels that the money could be used to create sustainable jobs and to build more council housing. Asked about the allegation that McCluskey, was intending to affiliate Unite to 'Momentum', which supports Jeremy Corbyn, he said this was utter nonsense as only a Unite conference or the NEC, could make that decision.

Len McCluskey recently stated that Jeremy Corbyn should be given 15 months to see if he could improve Labour's opinion poll ratings. If not, he feels he should be replaced by another leader. Allinson, supports Corbyn unequivocally, in spite of his shambolic performance as leader of the opposition. Although Labour held Stoke in a recent by-election, with a reduced majority, it also lost the safe Labour seat of Copeland, which went Conservative.  At the Richmond by-election held in December 2016, Labour lost its deposit and got fewer votes in the constituency than there were Labour Party members.

Jeremy Corbyn, leads a party that was pro-Remain and pro-EU, yet he's been a life-long opponent of Britain's membership of the European Union. After the vote for Brexit last summer, he stupidly called for Article 50 to be invoked immediately. John McDonnell, also claimed that Britain leaving the EU was nothing less than an "enormous opportunity." In February, having seen all their amendments defeated, Corbyn led his Labour MPs into the House to vote alongside the government for its Brexit bill. However, some Labour MPs, opposed the three line whip and voted against it.It was reported that immediately after Labour voted for the Brexit bill, some 7,000 Labour members stopped their standing orders and packed it in. Caroline Lucas of the Green Party, said that the un-amended bill was the "blueprint for an extreme Tory Brexit and Labour waved it through."

Already there is speculation as to whom might be the next Labour leader. Keir Starmer, Clive Lewis, and Rebecca Long-Bailey, have all been tipped as future Labour leaders.

Ballot papers for the 2017 election of Unite General Secretary were sent out on Monday 27th March.

Bitter Battle Inside Unite Union

UNITE the Union achieved a huge turnout of branches with nominations in the election for the union’s general secretary – the largest number ever, with close to 1,500 branches.
The Unite acting general secretary Gail Cartmail said today:  'It is very welcome that so many Unite branches and members have taken a full part in the nominating process for our elections for general secretary and executive council, the greatest democratic procedure in the labour movement.'
Almost 1,500 branches of Unite, Britain and Ireland’s biggest trade union, have made nominations in the election for the union’s general secretary – the largest number ever.
Len McCluskey, the union’s current general secretary, received 1,185 branch nominations, representing 559,000 Unite members.
Gerard Coyne, Unite’s West Midlands regional secretary, received 187 branch nominations, representing 98,000 Unite members.
Ian Allinson, a popular shop-floor worker at Fujitsu in Manchester and former member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), received 76 branch nominations, representing 37,000 Unite members.
The election for general secretary of Unite threatens to be bitter, and last week The Guardian reported that McCluskey as head of Unite gave Gerald Coyne a 'final written warning' for speaking at an event held by Labour for the 'Common Good', a group founded by Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt, two MPs who declined to join Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow Labour cabinet.
Coyne was invited to the event in January 2016 by the MP for Birmingham Erdington, Jack Dromey, and spoke alongside other union leaders including John Park, assistant general secretary at Community. The event was attended by 40 MPs.
Mr. Dromey was previously the Deputy General Secretary of the Transport & General Workers' Union, which became Unite was formed on 1 May 2007, after a merger of Amicus and the Transport & General Workers' Union.  Interestingly, Dromey is married to the senior Labour politician Harriet Harman.

According to The Guardian (25th, Januuary 2017):
'Coyne attended a disciplinary hearing on 1 March, where McCluskey said he had read a transcript of the Labour MPs’ meeting.
It seems that there was a disciplinary letter that followed a few days later, in which McCluskey added:
'Given the sensitivity within the Labour party at the moment with constant attacks on the leadership of the party and a clear determination by some to undermine Corbyn and create alternatives, the question is: should a senior officer in Unite have chosen to speak on such a platform (any platform) without seeking the views/authority of the chief of staff or the general secretary or at least sought guidance from the political department.'

Nearly 1,500 branches of Unite, Britain and Ireland’s biggest trade union, have made nominations in the election for the union’s general secretary – the largest number ever.
Len McCluskey, the union’s incumbent general secretary, received 1,185 branch nominations, representing 559,000 Unite members.
Gerard Coyne, Unite’s West Midlands regional secretary, received 187 branch nominations, representing 98,000 Unite members.
Ian Allinson, an employee of Fujitsu in Manchester, received 76 branch nominations, representing 37,000 Unite members.
Unite acting general secretary Gail Cartmail said today: “It is very welcome that so many Unite branches and members have taken a full part in the nominating process for our elections for general secretary and executive council, the greatest democratic procedure in the labour movement.
“The very strong level of participation is good for our democracy and I would urge all Unite members to take the chance to vote when ballot papers are distributed later this month.”
In addition to branch nominations, Unite members in workplaces not covered by a workplace branch can make nominations.  Len McCluskey received 132 such nominations, Gerard Coyne 21 and Ian Allinson 21.
Ballot papers for both elections are distributed from March 27, and the ballot closes on April 19.
- See more at: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/record-number-of-nominations-in-unite-general-secretary-election-2017/#sthash.XQXb6eS3.dpuf

Nearly 1,500 branches of Unite, Britain and Ireland’s biggest trade union, have made nominations in the election for the union’s general secretary – the largest number ever.
Len McCluskey, the union’s incumbent general secretary, received 1,185 branch nominations, representing 559,000 Unite members.
Gerard Coyne, Unite’s West Midlands regional secretary, received 187 branch nominations, representing 98,000 Unite members.
Ian Allinson, an employee of Fujitsu in Manchester, received 76 branch nominations, representing 37,000 Unite members.
Unite acting general secretary Gail Cartmail said today: “It is very welcome that so many Unite branches and members have taken a full part in the nominating process for our elections for general secretary and executive council, the greatest democratic procedure in the labour movement.
“The very strong level of participation is good for our democracy and I would urge all Unite members to take the chance to vote when ballot papers are distributed later this month.”
In addition to branch nominations, Unite members in workplaces not covered by a workplace branch can make nominations.  Len McCluskey received 132 such nominations, Gerard Coyne 21 and Ian Allinson 21.
Ballot papers for both elections are distributed from March 27, and the ballot closes on April 19.
- See more at: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/record-number-of-nominations-in-unite-general-secretary-election-2017/#sthash.XQXb6eS3.dpuf

Nearly 1,500 branches of Unite, Britain and Ireland’s biggest trade union, have made nominations in the election for the union’s general secretary – the largest number ever.
Len McCluskey, the union’s incumbent general secretary, received 1,185 branch nominations, representing 559,000 Unite members.
Gerard Coyne, Unite’s West Midlands regional secretary, received 187 branch nominations, representing 98,000 Unite members.
Ian Allinson, an employee of Fujitsu in Manchester, received 76 branch nominations, representing 37,000 Unite members.
Unite acting general secretary Gail Cartmail said today: “It is very welcome that so many Unite branches and members have taken a full part in the nominating process for our elections for general secretary and executive council, the greatest democratic procedure in the labour movement.
“The very strong level of participation is good for our democracy and I would urge all Unite members to take the chance to vote when ballot papers are distributed later this month.”
In addition to branch nominations, Unite members in workplaces not covered by a workplace branch can make nominations.  Len McCluskey received 132 such nominations, Gerard Coyne 21 and Ian Allinson 21.
Ballot papers for both elections are distributed from March 27, and the ballot closes on April 19.
- See more at: http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/record-number-of-nominations-in-unite-general-secretary-election-2017/#sthash.XQXb6eS3.dpuf

According to Gerard Coyne, it appears that based on figures from Corbyn’s entries in the parliamentary register of members’ interests, Unite had given Corbyn £225,000 in the space of 14 months. The union also provided Corbyn with more than £41,000 in other benefits such as staff and office space.
Coyne has also been critical of  the Copeland result in Cumbria. 
Coyne told The Guardian: 'In terms of outcome in Copeland, it was a meltdown in support for Labour and I think there are some very clear reasons why that happened. The reality is that Unite has put an awful lot of money into funding a leader of the Labour party who seems to be out of step with the industrial policies and needs of our members.'
Today, Guido Fawkes on his Blog reported in a post entitled 'Jobs for Votes':

'Another Unite member and staffer said:

'We all thought staff would be left to make their own decision on who they want to run Unite, but I’ve been put under massive pressure to vote for Len and I’m really worried about what will happen if I don’t.

'Unfortunately this exactly what we expected given the culture in Unite, and we’re expecting more of the same at the nomination meeting on Thursday.' 

On Ian Allinson's Blog someone called James Dick posted the following post:
'the last time there was a vote we voted against len and what a responce we got from the other branches in our sector. it was like voting for trump everyone was going nuts, saying it was noted we had backed the other guy and did we not know it was uncle lens country. hope you get enough backing but i think its going to be tought'
Mr. McCluskey must have known that when he called this unnecessary election would open up wounds. In the end the net result will be to damage both Unite and the Labour Party.

Ian Allinson now on Ballot for Unite Secretary Job

by Ian Allinson

IT's great news that I've now had notification from Unite that we have have passed the 50 nominations threshold - so I will be on the ballot paper. With this notification came a list of the nominations they have accepted. Your own was not on this list.

If you haven't yet sent off your nomination, please do so without delay - if they aren't received by Wednesday they won't count. For branches, the best way to submit the nomination is online - either using a link in the email sent to branch secretaries on 13 January, or the codes on the letter you received. Workplaces have to do it by post.

For nominations you need the following information:

• Ian Allinson
• Membership number 30439666
• Branch NW/55

Ian Allinson on Unite Nominations

THREE weeks in to the five-week nomination period and we know of 33 nominations so far, but at least one has been disqualified and probably many more will.
To be sure of getting on the ballot paper we need to redouble our efforts, particularly for workplace nominations - if your branch covers more than one workplace then each workplace is entitled to make a nomination too. There is updated guidance on nomination meetings etc here: http://www.ian4unite.org/how-to-nominate-me/
The other key step to ensure a real contest is to ensure that all the paperwork for nominations has been submitted accurately and promptly. If your branch or workplace has nominated me, please check that it has been sent off and that you have had an acknowledgement from Electoral Reform Services. I'd be grateful if you could let me know progress on submission and acceptance of nominations so we have as accurate picture as possible.
There are still lots more nomination meetings taking place - please send in details of any you know of. I'm planning to visit Stevenage, London and the West Midlands this week to speak at some and visit workplaces. This will include three meetings with Fujitsu members (not all nomination meetings) as we have a national industrial action ballot opening on Friday. If you're near Heathrow or Manchester Airport (T3) please show your support for members at BA Mixed Fleet fighting poverty pay and the two-tier workforce that resulted from the 2011 deal.
This week some women members produced a statement welcoming my release of the report on the treatment of women officers in Unite. They are asking other women in Unite to add their names too.
The best argument for Len McCluskey is Gerard Coyne. This article provides some useful points to address people's fears about "splitting the vote" and letting Coyne in. If McCluskey genuinely believed the right could win the election, why did he trigger it in the first place? If he is genuinely worried about the impact of media support for Coyne, why won't he agree to livestreamed hustings in every region? We could enable thousands of members to join the debate without filtering it through a hostile media.
Finally, we still have plenty of leaflets left. Let us know how many you want and where to send them. If you provide a postcode we can also suggest workplaces you could visit. Even if they have already nominated, this is a chance to discuss key issues facing members and how together we can make Unite a stronger and more effective union.

Solidarity

Ian (Allinson).

Threat to Labour Leader in Unite's Election?

LEN McCluskey stepped down early as general secretary of Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union, so as to stand again for a third term.  The New Statesman writer, Stephen Bush wrote in January that 'The contest has potentially far-reaching consequences for the Labour party. McCluskey was elected in 2013 to serve a five-year term; but his supporters hope that the move will allow him to stay in post until the next general election.'

Unite is the largest affiliate to the Labour Party. That makes it a power player in the party’s internal politics, although, writes Bush in the New Statesman of Unites leadership 'their reach and influence may often be overstated.  It is the GMB, a trade union from the party’s centre, which has dominated parliamentary selections so far in this parliament.'
McCluskey, who is 66, has some believe been handicapped by the idea, which Unite's press officers briskly deny, that he favoured Andy Burnham, not Jeremy Corbyn, in the 2015 Labour leadership election:  see the New Statesman, 6th, December 2016.  In the end Unite backed Corbyn.
In the last leadership election for Unite's top job, it was the left-wing candidate, Jerry Hicks, that threatened McCluskey most, and since then McCluskey has been a solid supporter of Corbyn, and it seems Unite 'underwrote much of the Islington MP's second leadership bid' last year.
Yet, according to the journalist Stephen Bush:  'the perception that he is a fairweather friend of the Corbyn project still lingers in some circles'.
The great hope for Labour’s Corbynsceptics and the right-wing centre is Gerard Coyne, the regional secretary in the west Midlands.  It has been said that allies of McCluskey hoped he could be bought off with a parliamentary seat, but  that hasn't happened and some are worried that a victory for Coyne would upset the current political complexion of the Labour Party.
We now know on the left, that Jerry Hicks will not be a contender in the current election for Unite General Secretary, but he has promised that he will support the new left-wing candidate Ian Allinson for the job.
Ian Allinson is Fujitsu's Unite convenor in Manchester, and has been involved in Unite and its forerunners for 25 years. He also has a blog, which records his union activities since 2007.  Whereas Len and Gerard are both entrenched in the union bureaucracy, Ian Allinson makes a claim to being the closest to trade union rank and file membership.  Here is the shop-floor Manchester lad to take on the tired union establishment. men.
The result of this election could well have wider consequences for British politics.

Unite Community branch opts for Len McCluskey

IN a tight vote last week the Unite Greater Manchester Community branch nominated Len McCluskey for the General secretary on Britain's biggest union; Unite the Union.  The figures given to Northern Voices were:

Len McCluskey : 14; Ian Allinson : 13; Gerard Coyne : 0

Our contact in the Manchester Community Branch says that 'according to this this week's Weekly Worker, (Ian) Allinson has 7 nominating branches so far. He has until 17 February to get another 43 - it looks like a tall order!'
Candidates need 50 nominating branches to get onto the ballot paper for the election. 
NV has taken the position that it is vital that as many names as possible are on the ballot and that a 'coronation' of Len McCluskey would be an unhealthy result for Unite and democracy.  Because the suggestion is that the election was called for selfish reasons to extend his term in office.
In our opinion some elements appear to be moving heaven and earth to keep Ian Allinson off the ballot by blustering about splitting the vote of the left.  If this is the case and the Unite bureaucracy is determined to keep Mr. Allinson out of the race, it will create much bad blood in the labour movement.
Today, we calculate that according to Ian Allinson's Twitter account there are some 24 nominating branches opting for Mr. Allison*, but some of these may not yet have registered their nominations officially.
*  NV spoke to Ian Allison last night and he said that he had only 22 branches that had confirmed their nominations to him.

Unite Union Machine Moves to Crown McCluskey

LAST week, with the start of nominations for the new General Secretary of Unite the Union, the Unite bureaucracy moved swiftly to back Leonard David  McCluskey (born 23 July 1950), who has been the General secretary of Unite since 2011.  According to his Wikipedia entry he previously spent some years working on the Liverpool Docks before to becoming a full-time union official.

On the 16th January 2017, Tim Lezard in Union News reported:

'Len McCluskey has swept the board in support from officers and reps in Unite in his bid to be re-election the union’s general secretary.

'McCluskey, who is standing against Gerard Coyne and Ian Allison, has won the backing of nine out of Unite’s ten regions as well as the vast majority of officers, sectoral and regional committee chairs and executive members.' 

Meanwhile, Guido Fawkes on December 22nd, 2016 wrote on his Blog that the 'Pro-Assad agitprop rag the Morning Star has endorsed Len McCluskey for the Unite leadership.'

Guido Fawkes added:  'Their floppy-haired, Oxford-educated editor Ben Chacko explains:  “Mr McCluskey’s support and advice has been of great value to us throughout his leadership”.'

Guido reminds us that 'Chacko’s (Morning Star) paper is in line to receive a good deal more than “advice” should Red Len be re-appointed General Secretary of Britain’s wealthiest union. During McCluskey’s current tenure “support” meant thousands of full-colour Morning Star subscription mail shots sent out to Unite branches across Britain at members’ expense.'

 It seems that in one leaflet Mr. McCluskey decreed:   'There is no substitute for reading the paper but you could also take out a shareholding in the Morning Star and send a regular monthly sum to the paper’s Fighting Fund.'

McCluskey became an officer of the TGWU on Merseyside in 1979, and was its campaign organiser throughout the 1980s, during that time he supported the Militant tendency, but was not a member of it.

McCluskey was elected as the National Secretary of the TGWU General Workers Group in 1990, and moved to London to work at the union headquarters.   In 2004 he became the TGWU's national organiser for the service industries.   In 2007, he was appointed as the Assistant General Secretary for Industrial Strategy of the newly merged Unite the Union.  He defines himself as being on the left of the union, and has been given the label of "Red Len" in the British press.

In 2010, McCluskey stood for election as General Secretary of Unite to replace joint-General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, who had both announced their retirement.
On 21 November 2010, it was announced that McCluskey had won the election.^[
McCluskey took office as the General Secretary on 1 January 2011.  In 2013, McCluskey announced that he would be running for re-election as General Secretary.^[6] He was re-elected in 2013 with the following results posted. The full election results of those elections are as follows:
Len McCluskey: 144,570 votes.
Jerry Hicks: 79,819 votes.
Number of ballot papers found to be invalid: 1,412.
Total number of valid votes cast: 224,389.
Turnout: 15.2 per cent.

History of mishandling the Falkirk election & disaffiliation threat.

In July 2013, McCluskey accused the Labour Party of 'picking the wrong fight' over the selection of a prospective candidate in the Falkirk constituency.  He described Labour party headquarters' handling of the matter as 'nothing short of disgraceful'.^[8]
In November 2013, McCluskey denied fresh claims that his Unite Union had tried to prevent a Labour Party investigation into alleged vote rigging in Falkirk.
In March 2015, McCluskey threatened to disaffiliate Unite from Labour and launch a new workers' party if Labour lost the 2015 General Election.
After moving to London as part of the T&GWU national operation in 1991 whilst still married, his partner Jennie Formby (née Sandle), gave birth to a child at Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton.

In 1994, McCluskey made headlines after it was revealed that he had received a subsidized loan of £90,000 to buy a house with Formby in NW10, London.  Mr. McCluskey lives with his partner Paula Lace.   In 2013, Jennie Formby was appointed Unite's political director on £75,000, replacing Steve (Stephen) Hart, who was the son of Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark.

 Clashes in the current Election for General Secretary

McCluskey and one of the other candidates Kevin Coyne have clashed over the airwaves.  Speaking on the BBC’s Pienaar’s Politics, McCluskey accused his challenger of being a 'puppet of Labour’s hard right'.  Coyne responded, saying:

'Absolutely I am not a puppet.  The reality is I have a vision and a change agenda for our union that is about putting in back in the hand of the members and making the union focus on the issues that are important to them.'

Meanwhile, Ian Allinson in December criticised McCluskey for suggesting that workers could benefit from reforms to the free movement of people when Britain leaves the European Union.


 Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton.^[1][3][11] In 1994, McCluskey made headlines after it was revealed that he had received a subsidized loan of £90,000 to buy a house with Formby in NW10, London.^[12] McCluskey lives with his partner Paula Lace. In 2013, Jennie Formby was appointed Unite's political director on £75,000, replacing Steve (Stephen) Hart, who was the son of Judith Hart, Baroness Hart of South Lanark


TGWU General Workers Group in 1990, and moved to London to work in the union's national headquarters.^[1][3]
TGWU in Merseyside in 1979 and was its campaign organiser throughout the 1980s,^[3][5] during which he supported Militant tendency, but was not a member of it.^[1]

He

McCluskey was elected as the National Secretary of the TGWU General Workers Group in 1990, and moved to London to work in the union's national headquarters.^[1][3] In 2004 he became the TGWU's national organiser for the service industries.^[3] In 2007, he was appointed as the Assistant General Secretary for Industrial Strategy of the newly merged Unite the Union.^[3] He defines himself as being on the left of the union, and has been given the label of "Red Len" in the British press because of his involvement in Unite's dispute with British Airways.^[5]
In 2010, McCluskey stood for election as General Secretary of Unite to replace joint-General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, who had both announced their retirement. On 21 November 2010, it was announced that McCluskey had won the election.^[3] Derek Simpson retired a few weeks later, in December 2010, and Tony Woodley followed shortly after that, leaving McCluskey to take office as the General Secretary on 1 January 2011.^[5] In 2013, McCluskey announced that he would be running for re-election as General Secretary.^[6] He was re-elected in 2013 with the following results posted. The full election results are as follows:
Len McCluskey: 144,570 votes.
Jerry Hicks: 79,819 votes.
Number of ballot papers found to be invalid: 1,412.
Total number of valid votes cast: 224,389.
Turnout: 15.2 per cent.

'Pro-Assad agitprop rag the Morning Star has endorsed Len McCluskey for the Unite leadership. Their floppy-haired, Oxford-educated editor Ben Chacko explains:

“Mr McCluskey’s support and advice has been of great value to us throughout his leadership.”

Guido concluded his critique:  'Len’s “support” has indeed been of “great value” to the Morning Star, least they can do is repay the favour…'

“We’re backing Len” – McCluskey sweeps board with endorsements from officers and reps

16th January 2017 Tim Lezard   News   No comments

An advert in the Morning Star, showing the nominations received by Len McCluskey

An advert in the Morning Star, showing the nominations received by Len McCluskey

An advert in the Morning Star, showing the nominations received by Len McCluskey

Len McCluskey has swept the board in support from officers and reps in Unite in his bid to be re-election the union’s general secretary.

McCluskey, who is standing against Gerard Coyne and Ian Allison, has won the backing of nine out of Unite’s ten regions as well as the vast majority of officers, sectoral and regional committee chairs and executive members.

He said: “I am deeply honoured to have received the over-whelming support of the people who give their time to build this great union and defend our members.

“Their vote of confidence in me is phenomenal.  It sends a signal to our members that despite what one of my opponents may say, this union has gone from strength to strength under my leadership.

“This sends a clear signal to Unite members that their union is stable and united, determined to deliver for them in our workplaces – and wants to stay on this course.

“I hope now that this will persuade one general secretary candidate to desist from the nonsense claims he is making about our union, assisted all too eagerly by parts of the media who are openly hostile to this movement.

“The truth about Unite is that it is proudly united, democratic, progressive and will never, as long as I lead it, ever turn its back on its members.”

Meanwhile, McCluskey and Coyne clashed yesterday over the airwaves. Speaking on the BBC’s Pienaar’s Politics, McCluskey accused his challenger of being a “puppet of Labour’s hard right”. Coyne responded, saying: “Absolutely I am not a puppet. The reality is I have a vision and a change agenda for our union that is about putting in back in the hand of the members and making the union focus on the issues that are important to them.”

Cut the Crap of a Unite Coronation!

No to elitism & top-down trade unionism!
from an Ian Allinson e-mail - headline & sub-title northern voices

THE shortened nomination period, along with the unexpected election, is a key part of how this was intended to be a coronation rather than a contest.  We've now had one week of the five weeks for nominations.
Our arguments are being very well received in workplaces and at hustings. I've posted some tips if your branch or workplace wants to organise a hustings.
Thanks to London GEMS, South Croydon Arriva bus, Tyneside Engineering, Coventry & Warwickshire Tom Mann, Bury commercial and SCA Prudhoe branches that have told me they have nominated me so far.
Six is a good start, but we'll need to up the pace if we're to be sure of being on the ballot paper.  We have to assume that the union will find ways to rule out a fair proportion of our nominations, so have to aim well above the 50.  The other candidates have lavishly funded campaign machines - we're relying on ourselves to fight for every nomination and to ensure members can decide the future of our union based on the issues, not on who has rich and powerful backers.
If you win a nomination at your meeting, please let me know right away and make sure all the paperwork is sent off accurately and promptly.  Branches can do this online, which goes directly to ERS and avoids the possibility of Unite mislaying your nomination.
Bury Commercial branch contacted local press following their nomination and got some coverage, which all helps make members aware of the campaign.  The Tom Mann branch decided to donate to the costs campaign.
Don't forget that as well as branch nominations, every workplace can also make a nomination, unless it is in a branch covering just that one workplace.  Full details of how to nominate me are here. Nominations at workplaces are just as important as branches.  They may not be able to contribute financially, but workplace meetings often involve more / different members than branch meetings.
Please let me know:

• Where and when your nominating meeting is
• If you'd like me or a representative to come and speak at your meeting or to visit your workplace - please give me as much detail as possible
• If you'd like some leaflets, how many you'd like and where to send them to

If you support the campaign, please make sure you've left your details here. Let me know what you're doing and how it's going.
This week I've posted new material on www.ian4unite.org on sexism, bullying and harassment in Unite, and on the arguments around Trident, partnership and diversification - I'm the only candidate clearly opposed to Trident. The web site also carries my campaign pledges, many of which link to articles with a more detailed explanation. These are copied below.
There's no let up in the pressure from employers and government, so we can afford no let up in our campaign. More of the same isn't good enough!

Solidarity

Ian.

www.iansunitesite.org.uk

www.leftfutures.org/2016/12/unite-general-secretary-election-who-is-ian-allinson

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38340128

https://www.facebook.com 

  https://twitter.com/IanAllinson

https://www.theguardian.com  

www.ian4unite.org

https://socialistworker.co.uk/.../Why+I+am+standing+for+Unite+leader+++Fujitsu+stri..

Ian's pledges

Communication, participation and a bottom-up union

• Champion lay member democracy and participation, don't undermine it.
• Fortnightly email bulletins direct to all activists, not filtered through officers and committees.
• Support members being able to elect the officers who represent us. Not only would this increase accountability, it would reduce the power of patronage and the climate of fear in the union.
• Tackle the non-functioning branches that deny members a voice and access to resources.
• Oppose the exclusion of community and retired members from participation in Unite structures.
• I'd keep my current wage, not the inflated General Secretary salary, to avoid giving the hostile media ammunition against us.

A stronger union, fit for the future

• Involve members, officers and staff in a major review of Unite's structures to make them fit for purpose in the 21st century. Shift resources and power away from regions to better support the vast majority of Unite workplaces that are in employers spanning multiple regions. Improve support for company and sub-sector combine committees.
• Encourage a spirit of experimentation in organising. Documents and publicise case studies of lessons from members’ organising and campaigning efforts and successes. We spend too much effort trying to reinvent the wheel.
• A flexible facility for levies for strike funds etc, not restricted to where all members are in workplace branches.
• Access to a Dispute Unit for all disputes from an early stage. All members in dispute should feel like they have a million members behind them, not be left to fend for themselves.
• Expand the lay companion scheme to involve more members (including those not in paid work) and free up officer time from casework.
• Overhaul education, which is essential for organising and changing the union's culture, in the light of funding cuts, and ensure fair treatment for our tutors.
• Build on our organising success by increasing lay member involvement.

 Equality and young members' issues in our industrial agenda, not an optional extra

• Champion workers' rights to move freely and be treated equally wherever we go. No concessions to racism or nationalism.
• Integrate our equality and young members work better into our industrial agenda.
• Tackle bullying and sexual harassment, including within our own union (also see report).

 Campaign now: backing Corbyn shouldn't mean waiting for him

• Extend Unite's support for Jeremy Corbyn, not only through Unite's role inside the Labour Party, but by grass roots campaigning and action which can win people over. Stop undermining him on key policies and calling his leadership into question.

 Fight for workers' rights, don't tail our employers' agendas

• Organise regional conferences bringing together campaigns for civil liberties and against state repression, so that our opposition to anti-union legislation stops being isolated and ineffective.
• Challenge the culture of partnership - we are not "all in it together". Post-Brexit Unite should be prioritising defence of workers' rights, not tailing employers' demands for free trade or protectionism.
• Support a million climate jobs, not costly and destructive vanity projects like Trident, HS2, Heathrow expansion and Hinkley Point. Proactively fight for diversification to protect members whose jobs will be affected by changes such as climate change, changes in defence policy and automation. Call a conference of defence workers, the defence teams from Labour and the SNP, and experts on diversification.
• Investigate the role of union officials in blacklisting members. Officially extend every assistance to the Blacklist Support Group in rooting out collusion and backdoor deals with the employers.

--

For more information on the campaign, see http://www.ian4unite.org, https://twitter.com/ian4unite and https://www.facebook.com/ian4unite/. To donate to the campaign, see https://donorbox.org/ian4unite
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'Fifty Shades of Grey' at Bury Unite Branch

ALLEGATIONS that 'pressure' was put on the Bury Unite Commercial Branch to nominate Len McCluskey, the current General Secretary of Unite the Union, for re-election in the forthcoming elections for Unite's top job have been rebutted by the local branch secretary Brian Bamford.   The claim was made on Twitter by one of the candidates that the presence of two Unite full-time organisers at last Monday's branch meeting was a failed attempt to influence the Bury branch to vote for Mr. McCluskey, a strong backer of Jeremy Corbyn the Labour Party leader.

The Unite union at present funds the Labour Party to the tune of many millions of pounds every year.

The row about the Bury branch being 'pressurised' to back McCluskey arose because of a Tweet on Ian Allinson's Twitter account after the branch meeting, implying that the organisers were there to influence the result.  Mr. Allinson is one of the three candidates standing for the top position of Unite General secretary. 

Since then, Mr. Bamford has insisted that 'the Bury Unite Branch blooms with binmen not shrinking violets and there is no way we could be leaned on by the union bosses'. 

The two organisers were allowed to participate in the discussion over the nomination, but not to dominate the discourse or to vote.

The organisers were permitted to speak but naturally not to vote, because the Bury Unite Branch  passionately believes in 'free speech' and 'lively debate'.

It was suggested during the discussions that the nomination of Ian Allinson to appear on the ballot paper would have the effect of 'splitting the left vote' between McCluskey and Allinson.  Gerard Coyne, who is a Unite full-time organiser in the Midlands, is the third candidate and is reputed to be a 'right-wing Blairite'.

This was contested by the branch secretary Mr. Bamford, who said that the membership should have 'the widest possible choice' between the different candidates, and he claimed that the critics of Allinson by using the 'split-vote' argument were seeking to shrink the choice before the membership.  In contrast 'we' the Unite Bury branch, wanted to 'open things up and not to narrow things down'.  Bamford claimed that even though he may possibly vote for Len McCluskey it was still vital to have someone like Ian Allinson on the ballot sheet.

To argue that there should be only two choices between 'left and right' is to create a thread-bare bipolar dichotomy of 'cowboys and Indians' or 'black and white'.  This is a thoroughly 20^th century mentality, and in essence the Bury branch was preferring to embrace the spirit of 'Fifty Shades of Grey' in their approach; what they wanted, if I am interpreting the spirit of the meeting correctly, was the broadest possible discussion, debate and openness within the realm of liberty.

Those at the meeting who took the 'split vote' view then went on to say that we should look to the established experienced of experts like Mr. McCluskey from Liverpool, a professional official with many years of in the saddle of officialdom, rather than a new boy such as a shop-floor activist like Mr. Allinson from Blackley, Manchester. 

This faith in the expertise of the office-holder is as feeble-minded as the bipolar dichotomy, and is just another mediocre left-over of the old 20^th century modernity.  It is so full of holes that the average bin-man can see through it without so much as looking up from his football results. 

The bin-men of Bradley Fold, and the others on the branch committee, eventually came to a carefully calibrated conclusion, and were in no way confused or overwhelmed by any hypothetical 'hierarchical pressures' from above.

This was demonstrated by the branch's clear unanimous vote to nominate the local Manchester lad, Ian Allinson, for the position as General Secretary of Unite the Union.  We must now await to see how many Unite members vote for him.

Bury Binmen back Ian Allinson in Unite's Top Job

YESTERDAY afternoon, a Bury Unite Commercial Branch meeting of mostly binmen in the Queen's Hotel on Bradley Lane, became one of the first Unite Branches to nominate Manchester lad, Ian Allinson, for the next General Secretary of Unite the Union. 
In putting forward Mr. Allinson for the Bury branch's nomination the Branch Secretary, Brian Bamford, said that he was not so keen on 'coronations' in matters of political or union issues, and that he felt that it was important that the Unite membership get as wide a choice as possible to lead them. 
Mr. Bamford made it clear that while he respected the current leader Len McCluskey he did not think it was healthy for the union to have a narrow choice of candidates. 
There was some debate about if by putting Ian Allinson on the ballot paper the Bury Branch would be splitting the so-called 'left-vote', and one or two people at the meeting said 'Who's heard of Ian Allison outside of Manchester?'
Someone else claimed that Len McCluskey was a well-established experienced officer, and Mr. Allinson was a new boy on the block, so wouldn't it be better to support someone more knowledgeable?
In response it was then argued that many people hadn't heard of Jeremy Corbyn before he was elected as the Labour leader.  Others thought that some officers spend too long in office, and thereby lose contact with the rank and file membership.  Ian Allison, who is a convenor at Fujitsu in Manchester, is not a paid official.
The only other candidate for the General Secretary's job, Gerard Coyne, is a Unite regional officer in the Midlands.
After considering the proposals of all three candidates the meeting voted unanimously to nominate to nominate Ian Allinson for General Secretary.
For more go to:
www.iansunitesite.org.uk/

Unite Chief & Anonymous 'Smear' Tactics

Len McCluskey says 'Unite members deserve better'

LAST week, Len McCluskey, the current General Secretary of Unite the Union, dispatched a letter to the members of the Unite union complaining about an 'anonymous' communication which he described as 'abusing and smearing both the name of our great union and myself'.

Mr.McCluskey claims: 

'Clearly, this mailing is connected with the election for General Secretary presently under way and is part of a campaign to attack Unite for its fighting back approach to defending our members.  The “articles” contained within it recycle smears from newspapers which are not merely hostile to myself, but to trade unionism.'

The anonymous document is a re-print of stories in the press from the MailOnline; The Times and The Sunday Times.  The claims, which Mr. McCluskey describes as 'lies' including claims about a 'cut-rate £90,000' loan and other lurid stories..

McCluskey argues that the 'ruling establishment, both in the media and political circles, have ,,, an absolute interest in both undermining myself as your General Secretary and your union as the leading democratic force fighting to defend and advance the interests of working people across our nations.'

It is suggested that the anonymous communication seems to be 'a breach of Unite's data security' and Gail Cartmail, the Acting General Secretary of Unite is presently investigating the matter.

Up to now two other members of Unite have declared their intention to fight for the top job in Unite:  Ian Allinson, from Higher Blackley in Manchester, the chair of Unite's UK combine in Fujitsu, and Gerard Coyne, a full-time officer from the West Midlands.