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.

What Did Union Bosses Know about Blacklist?

The material below is taken directly from the Blog of the whistle-blower Alan Wainwright dated Monday, 27 February 2017, which we publish without comment.  N.V. Editor.

IN this post we are specifically going to look at the actions of Mick Tuff, current Unite area official for the West Midlands. The region Gerard Coyne boasts he has led for the last fifteen years in his Unite leadership election manifesto (albeit they did not merge with Amicus until 2007).

I alerted Tuff to the blacklisting at Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Limited (then Haden Young) back in 2005 and presented him with the two key pieces of blacklisting evidence in my possession:

1. The Haden Young blacklist checking sheets
2. The Jubilee Line, Royal Opera House and Pfizer lists

It was this exact same evidence, no more or less, that David Clancy at the ICO used to locate and close down the Consulting Association (CA) in 2009, some four years later.

It then took a further seven years to get any justice, in which only 771 of the 3,213 received meaningful compensation in May 2016.

So lets look at what Tuff did with the blacklisting evidence. There can only be one of two possible outcomes from the documents I'm presenting here.

Outcome 1. Senior Officials leaned on Tuff and forced him to bury this issue.

Outcome 2. Tuff buried this evidence of his own volition.

The first theory is supported by a Facebook exchange between myself and ex Amicus Official, Gareth Wallis, who is referring to conversations with Tuff in 2005. Gareth eventually left the union to work at the Electrical Contractors Association, and subsequently, CA member, Mathew Hall/SPIE.

I have just used extracts in this post, but the full documents are available to download from this website under the various "Bent Union Officials" posts via the Index.

In the first two pages of this facebook message exchange, Gareth talks about his labour management experience of Tom Hardacre blacklisting workers:

Gareth Wallis Quote:

( Line deleted here by NV owing to being possibly defamatory to Tommy Hardacre)

"I don't know if he ever formally submitted stuff to Ian Kerr. What I do know is that he would publicly say to me and my ECA colleagues:

"You lot should be making public statements against blacklisting. You should be telling them to employ AN Other."

Then after the meeting he'd say: 

"You know I've got to say that, but don't touch him. He's a fuckin nightmare" 

Gareth then goes on to talk about his friend, Mick Tuff. 

You just mentioned Mick Tuff. I know him very well.

I remember Mick telling me on the day you had first contacted him - We were at the JIB National Conference in Bosworth Hall and he asked me what the fuck to do. I said he should represent you. I also know that he was leant on from above, because I know Mick wanted to take it on.

He confided in me because we were good pals. I've not seen him much since then but whenever I spoke to him since, and even until recently, he just says to me "They told me I had to leave it Stu, the bastards".

This exchange suggests that Outcome 1 is the correct one, and that the powers that be leaned on Tuff to bury the blacklisting evidence. 

Maybe they didn't lean on him, so let's look at Outcome 2.

A freedom of information request to Unite in 2012 revealed a number of very interesting facts. These are detailed in a letter from Tuff to Alison Humphrey at solicitors, Rowley Ashworth dated 21 July 2006. This is the period immediately after I had raised the blacklisting directly with Derek Simpson.

I will provide a download of the actual document below, but the letter details the following:

1. That Tuff believed my evidence did not prove anything and was just a set of names.

Fact: Tuff was in possession of the actual Haden Young blacklisting check sheets, and in particular, one which had the name of Michael Shakespeare on it, who had been rejected by Haden Young following that particular Consulting Association check.

Fact: Tuff was in possession of the lists of names of over 500 workers involved in industrial disputes at the Jubilee Line, Royal Opera House and Pfizer projects. Lists of names that had been exchanged between Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Limited (then Balfour Kilpatrick) and Drake & Scull.
For more go to

ALAN WAINWRIGHT & THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BLACKLIST

www.alanwainwright.blogspot.com 

Ashton MP keeps 'shtum' about Tameside Hospital bed cuts!

In February. we published an email that had been sent by Tameside health campaigner, Rod McCord, to the Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne, Angela Rayner. 

In his email, Mr. McCord, a member of the Tameside Hospital Action Group (THAG),  had referred to plans to cut 246 beds at the hospital (by 2020) thereby reducing bed capacity at the hospital, by 55% and the "virtual wall of silence surrounding bed cuts and the future of A&E."

At the time of writing, Ms. Rayner, had not replied to Mr. McCord's email of 5th December 2016. As we feel that it is in the public interest, we are now publishing below a reply Mr. McCord received from her dated 20th February 2017 dealing with some of the matters raised in his initial email to her. Although in his email Mr McCord asked Angela Rayner:

"we would appreciate your comments on the proposed axing of 246 beds at the hospital, which includes the demolition of the Charlesworth Building", Ms. Rayner declined to comment.

Tameside Hospital has a relatively - compared with England overall - low level of hospital doctors per bed and a relatively high level of bed occupancy, which are both factors significantly associated with high adjusted mortality ratios - death rates. In July 2013, the hospital was put into special measures having been found to have serious failures in the care it was providing.

Although Tameside Hospital recently received a 'GOOD' rating from the 'Care Quality Commission' (CQC), last month, Professor Sir Brian Jarman of Imperial College London, told Paul Broadhurst, a Dukinfield  health campaigner that between April 2007 and January 2017, nine mortality alerts about individual diagnoses or procedures had been sent to the Chief Executive of Tameside Hospital from his unit at Imperial College, London. In addition, he pointed out: "Tameside's SHMI values are high every year from 2011/12 to 2015/16 (the latest data available)."

Responding to the letter from Angela Rayner MP, Mr. McCord told Northern Voices:

"THAG welcomes these explicit assurances from the Chief Executive of Tameside Hospital that there will be no reduction in bed capacity at Tameside Hospital unless and until the level of patient demand permits it and that the new Integrated Care Organisation (ICO), has no plans to downgrade its A&E department as part of its future strategy. We will continue to monitor developments closely."

Tribunal rulings threaten bogus self-employment in the gig economy!

City Sprint courier - Maggie Dewhurst
By
Derek Pattison - President Tameside TUC (in a personal capacity)

The Government has come under pressure to clarify the law on 'self-employment' following a huge increase in the number of so-called 'independent contractors' being employed in the gig economy. As 'independent contractors', workers do not get a regular wage but are paid for the 'gigs' they do, such as delivering food or making a car journey. Typically, contractors are on short-term contracts or freelance work and do not, as independent contractors, qualify for the living wage, sick-pay, pensions, holiday-pay or basic employment rights. They also have to pay their own NI and tax contributions.

Last year, an Employment Tribunal ruled in a case brought  by two Uber drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, members of the GMB Union who were represented by the firm 'Leigh Day', that workers who accept these 'gigs' were  not independent contractors but "workers to who certain employment rights are due." In what is seen as a landmark ruling, the tribunal found that they were entitled to the same rights as full-time employees. Uber is currently appealing against the decision on the grounds that it is a technology company and not a taxi firm.

In February, an Uber driver speaking to MPs on the House of Commons work and pensions select committee, told them that although he worked 90 hours per week, he still needed to claim state benefits. Minicab drivers working for Uber, have also stated that after Uber's 20% cut and car expenses have been deducted from their pay, their earnings fall below the minimum wage. It was also revealed at the select committee that the courier 'Deliveroo',  had included a clause in its contracts that forbade riders from challenging their employed status in the courts.

An investigation by the Guardian newspaper, found that some 10,000 so-called "life-style couriers" working for the company Hermes, who deliver parcels for retailers such as 'Next' and 'John Lewis', were earning less than £6 an hour. In January, the delivery firm 'Jinn', based in East London, told its couriers that it was scrapping its hourly rate of £8 an hour for its self-employed contractors and introducing a piecework system based  on payment per delivery. A Jinn courier based in Leeds told the Guardian that he'd been paid £125 for a 72-hour week.

Two other legal challenges are also likely to impact on the gig economy. In January, a London  Employment Tribunal, found that Maggie Dewhurst, a 29-year-old bicycle courier from South London who worked for City Sprint, who have 3,500 couriers, should be classed as an employee rather than self-employed and was entitled to basic employments rights such as the minimum wage, holiday pay and sick pay. The tribunal ruled that the company had acted unlawfully when they failed to pay Ms. Dewhurst two day's holiday pay. Tribunal Chair, Joanna Wade, said that City Sprint's contractual arrangements were: "contorted", "indecipherable" and "window dressing".

Another case that has been widely reported is that of Gary Smith vs Pimlico Plumbers. Having worked as a plumber for six-years until 2011, Mr. Smith was dismissed by the firm when he suffered a heart attack and he sued Pimlico for sick pay. The Court of Appeal recently ruled that Mr. Smith was entitled to basic employment rights such as sick pay in spite of being technically self-employed.

Other legal challenges are already in the pipeline and are being taken against companies such as Addison Lee, Excel and eCourier. What all these cases have in common, is that they consider the real relationship that exists between independent contractors and the companies that they work for. Although the meaning of "worker/employee" is defined in section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, in employment law, what it seems to boil down to is this: who is really in control? Clearly, there are certain distinct advantages for many employers to maintain the fiction that the people who do the work are not workers but self-employed. But as Maggie Dewhurst pointed out at her tribunal hearing, she was not a genuinely self-employed person because she could not "pick and choose" which jobs to accept:

"We spend all day being told what to do, when to do it and how to do it. We're under their control. We're not a mosaic of small businesses and that is why we deserve basic employment rights like the national minimum wage."

Maggie Dewhurst, who was represented by the law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite and backed by the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB), believes that workers need to wake up and take action to stop this "on-demand model" of employment spreading. She said:

"Unless we take drastic action, we will all wake up in five years time on bogus contracts, with no employment rights, paid per task, and managed by a smartphone."

The Government have announced that a review led by Matthew Taylor, CEO of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), is to investigate the gig economy and the rise in self-employment and zero-hour contracts. It is expected that the review will lead to recommendations for the law to be changed.  It has also been disclosed that the exchequer is facing a £6bn shortfall in NI revenue by the beginning of the next decade as a result of the rapid growth of self-employment in the UK - up by around 1 million since 2009.

Loose Women Hero Scapegoat's Brother

AIDED by the Murdoch press through The Sun and the local press Karen Danczuk, and occasional panelist on the program 'Loose Women', has claimed that, according to the Rochdale Observer:  'all five of the "targeted" attacks (on her Range Rover) have happened since her brother was jailed for raping her as a child'.
Ms. Danczuk has shown an interest in becoming a member of parliament and since serving as a Labour councillor on Rochdale Council now sees herself as a public figure or minor celebrity.  Hence, she seems to be seizing every opportunity to promote herself, especially since she was the prime witness in a successful case against her own brother for child abuse involving rape.
The latest chance to get noticed was when she Tweeted:
'These attacks are either linked to the trial or a sheer coincidence. They are clearly targeted at me for whatever reason and I can only speculate.' 
It seems the vehicle's paintwork has been scratched and the petrol cap somehow tampered with, the last straw being last Friday when nail were sprinkled before her Range Rover.  The media and TV celebrity has said she has contacted the police.

The media which has been fulsome with its praise for her public promotions has only thought fit to send gossip columnists, rather than their crime or political correspondents, to cover the latest story of Karen Danczuk.
The Daily Mail sent Isobel Frodsham some of whose international stories have appeared on /muckrack.com/isobel-frodsham, and include juicy titles like  

Armed raider frogmarched out of shop empty-handed By Isobel Frodsham dailymail.co.uk

 Man storms into restaurant with a meat cleaver in Malaysia By Isobel Frodsham dailymail.co.uk

Jesus gets his cross stuck in metro ceiling in CologneBy Isobel Frodsham dailymail.co.uk

Meanwhile, the journalist Amanda Devlin from The Sun, who last week covered the Karen Danczuk story of damage to her car, has gone on Twitter to express sycophantic tweets about her own employer among other investigative reports below from both Ms. Devlin and Ms. Frodsham.  We leave it to our readers to judge the quality of this journalism:

Round-up of some of my stories in @TheSun this week

8. Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 21
   

   The Sun overtakes Mirror to be second biggest UK newspaper website

   
   

   Armed raider frogmarched out of shop empty-handed

   By Isobel Frodsham

   dailymail.co.uk — Cashier was filmed ignoring a man who pointed a gun in her face at a shop She carried on working at the Russian supermarket in Serebryanye Prudy Another worker is seen holding his sleeve and forcing him out of the shop The man was arrested and has been charged with attempted armed robbery An armed raider was frogmarched out of a shop empty-handed after a cashier completely ignored his threat to shoot her.
   

   a day ago Who shared?
   

   Wrong byline?

   Man storms into restaurant with a meat cleaver in Malaysia

   By Isobel Frodsham

   dailymail.co.uk — The 37-year-old man was seen waving a meat cleaver in a restaurant in Malaysia He threatened to cause a gas explosion which led to customers running to safety Emergency services were called and the man was eventually taken away A man went on a rampage with a meat cleaver in a restaurant after losing his phone.
   

   a day ago Who shared?
   

   Wrong byline?

   Jesus gets his cross stuck in metro ceiling in Cologne

   By Isobel Frodsham

   dailymail.co.uk — The man was seen carrying the huge crucifix on an escalator in a metro station Suddenly, as he made his way to the top, the cross was jammed into the ceiling 'Jesus' is seen swearing as he tries and successfully removes it from the hole The man was heading over to the annual street carnival in Cologne, Germany A man dressed as Jesus accidentally jammed a large crucifix into a ceiling of a metro station in Germany. a day ago Who shared?

   1 reply . 1 retweet 4 likes
     Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 20
   

   Amanda Devlin Retweeted Press Awards

   The Sun shortlisted for Website of the Year at the National Press Awards

   Amanda Devlin added,

   
   

   Press Awards @PressAwardsuk

   Shortlists announced for the National Press Awards for 2016 http://pressawards.org.uk/page-view.php?pagename=Shortlists …
10. Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 20
    
Amanda Devlin Retweeted Press Awards
The Sun shortlisted for Website of the Year at the National Press Awards
Amanda Devlin added,


Press Awards @PressAwardsuk
Shortlists announced for the National Press Awards for 2016 http://pressawards.org.uk/page-view.php?pagename=Shortlists …
0 replies . 1 retweet 2 likes


13. Amanda Devlin‏Verified account @JournoDevs Feb 19
    
Round-up of some of my stories in @TheSun this week





0 replies . 0 retweets 4 likes