Union Advice (02/11/14)



I'll be fascinated to see how the big three trade unions in Scotland (GMB, Unison and Unite) react to the prospect of advising their members how to vote in the Scottish Labour leadership election.

Now if you ask me, the trade unions should stay out of the Labour Party's internal affairs and if union members want to have a say in the contest then the solution is obvious - they should join the Labour Party.

Because the people providing 'leadership' potentially to Scottish union members on this thorny subject - Harry Donaldson, Mike Kirby, and Pat Rafferty - are not figures who inspire any confidence in me at least.

Pat Rafferty was, of course, the Unite full-time official who less the disastrous Grangemouth industrial dispute which came within a whisker of closing the whole plant down.

Harry Donaldson and Mike Kirby have also been on the scene for some time and, in my view, both trade unions have an appalling track record on equal pay having kept their low paid women members in the dark for years, over the huge pay differences between make and female jobs.   

So why would anyone rely on advice from these individuals and their organisations on who is the best person to lead the Labour Party in Scotland.

Failure of Leadership (26 October 2013)


I am struggling to recall an industrial dispute in which a trade union ended up shooting itself in the foot - both feet arguably - in the manner of Unite at Grangemouth.

For weeks now Unite has been running a high profile and aggressive campaign against the owners of the Grangemouth site, Ineos, egged on by certain commentators in the press - yet the union has now signed up to an agreement which is, arguably, much tougher than the deal that was on the table only a few days ago.

Now this is because Unite began to believe its own propaganda and badly overplayed its hand - by calling a strike that had no real purpose and served only to poison industrial relations with Ineos even further.

The end result is that Unite has signed up to a package which includes:
  • A three-year 'no strike' agreement
  • A three-year pay freeze
  • A much inferior company pension scheme  
  • An end to the practice of full-time union conveners operating at Grangemouth 
Now in return, Ineos will reopen the Grangemouth plant immediately, rehire up to 2,000 contractors who were laid off after the complex was shut down - and will invest £300 million to handle imported shale gas from America. 

But of course these 'good elements' of the deal were always on the table and the spark that led to the dispute - a strike over the 'treatment' of a full-time union convener - has resulted in full-time union conveners being abandoned altogether.

In future, local union reps at the site will be 'hands-on' employees first and foremost - with time off to conduct their union duties when required - which presumably will be properly managed and monitored.  

Apparently the news of a reprieve for Grangemouth's was greeted by huge cheers from the workforce, who had gathered at the plant to hear the announcement - which speaks volumes  about Unite's appalling leadership during the dispute.

I imagine there will be astonishment amongst the workforce at the words of the union's Scottish regional secretary - Pat Rafferty - who told the waiting press:

"Relief will ring right round the Grangemouth community, and across Scotland today. Hundreds of jobs that would have been lost can now be saved and £300m will be invested into the plant."

Yet only days earlier Unite had told Ineos to stick its rescue plan where the sun don't shine and advised its members to prepare to man the barricades - which is completely at odds with what the union is now saying, in public at least.

So, this is not the finest hour for Scotland's trade unions especially when you consider that just down the road in South Lanarkshire Council, a Labour council - yes a Labour council - has imposed changes upon hundreds of workers by threatening to terminate people's contracts of employment and offer re-engagement on inferior terms.

Yet in that particular case the unions stood aside and abandoned people to their fate.  

Unbelievable.

Right from Wrong (26 January 2014)


A number of readers drew my attention to the story below from the BBC web site in which the Unite trade union claims to have been vindicated over the 'vote rigging' scandal in Falkirk - that blew up into a much wider industrial conflict involving the giant Ineos plant and the local Unite convener, Stevie Deans. 

Now I don't know of anyone who ever accused the Unite convener of criminality because he seems like a decent enough chap to me, but there seems little doubt that Stevie Deans was guilty of wrongdoing by abusing his time-off arrangements with his employer (Ineos) - a civil not a criminal matter, of course.

In effect Ineos claimed that Stevie Deans was working on Labour Party business when he was being paid by the company to represent the interests of the workforce - and Ineos management instigated an investigation to get to the bottom of things which was duly followed by a disciplinary hearing. 

Nothing to get too excited about there, you might think, but the union's reaction was to call a strike which was a completely crazy and irresponsible move especially when the agreed procedures provided Stevie Deans with every opportunity to defend himself and explain his behaviour.

Instead the whole business escalated out of control and in the end Stevie Deans resigned from his job rather than face the charge that when he was supposed to be doing what was best for workers at Ineos - he was devoting much of his time to party politics and the internal affairs of the Labour Party.

So the real issue was never about criminality which is a complete red herring.

As the old Labour Party slogan use to say, the real issue was always about knowing right from wrong - resisting the temptation to play party politics, and refusing to take risks with people's jobs and livelihoods. 
  

Falkirk row: Police say 'no evidence of criminality' in Unite emails

The controversy centres on claims the Unite union tried to fix the selection of a parliamentary candidate

Police have found "no evidence of any criminality" in emails sent by a former Grangemouth union convener.

Stevie Deans, who was a full time Unite official at the petrochemicals complex, had been accused of being involved in vote-rigging in Falkirk.

He was later cleared by an internal investigation by the Labour Party.

The Unite union, which called the complaints "vexatious", said it had been vindicated in consistently saying that no wrongdoing had taken place.

Mr Deans left his job at the Grangemouth oil refinery last year and decided not to seek re-election as chairman of Labour's constituency party in Falkirk.

The Falkirk seat is held by Eric Joyce, who resigned from the Labour party and now represents the constituency as an independent.

Labour's selection process for next year's general election has been mired in controversy, with allegations that Unite members had been signed up to the Falkirk Labour Party to ensure the union's favoured candidate was selected.
Stevie Deans was at the heart of the Falkirk candidate selection claims

In September, Labour said it had cleared the Unite union of trying to rig the selection process.

It said the decision was made after "key evidence" was "withdrawn".

But in November, The Sunday Times newspaper said it had seen 1,000 emails to and from Mr Deans, which it said revealed the full extent of the plot to influence selection of the candidate.

Its story also included extracts of the internal Labour report in which Labour officials said there were "deliberate attempts to frustrate" interviews with some of the key witnesses.

Police Scotland, which earlier this year dropped an investigation into the Falkirk allegations, was called in to study the emails, which were passed on by Mr Deans's employer Ineos.

A spokesperson for Ineos, which operates the huge Grangemouth oil refinery and petrochemicals plant, said: "The Ineos investigation of Mr Deans was related to the misuse of Ineos procedures and systems.

"Mr Deans resigned prior to the final stage of the disciplinary process. The email cache was referred to the police and the information commissioner based on legal advice to protect the company."

A spokesman for the force said: "Following information received alleging misconduct by a member of staff at the Grangemouth refinery, a Police Scotland enquiry was undertaken.

"This enquiry has now concluded and there is no evidence of any criminality."

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "Unite has been vindicated in consistently saying that no wrongdoing or criminality has taken place and welcome Police Scotland's conclusion.

"It is shameful that the police's time has been wasted by vexatious complaints and their attentions diverted from catching real criminals and solving real crimes."

He added: "Stevie Deans is a decent and honourable man who has been smeared and hounded with a callous disregard for him and his family by those who should know better.

"The anti-union hysteria whipped up by certain sections of the media and their friends to pursue a spiteful agenda has been shocking. Their witch-hunt has been exposed to be without foundation."


Calamitous Cover Up (2 November 2014)

Dan Hodges is still a Labour Party supporter, as far as I know, although he did resign his membership of the party recently - so Dan's support is not unqualified and nor is he afraid of calling a spade as spade.

Which he does in this opinion piece about Unite and the 'vote-rigging' scandal in Falkirk - which became caught up in the nasty industrial dispute at Grangemouth that came within a whisker of the plant's closure.

Party politics and industrial relations are a toxic mixture that should be kept apart  at all times - but the events of recent weeks are damaging to all concerned and Dan Hodges is right to say that Unite's behaviour has made a mockery of Ed Miliband's pledge to be the champion of a new politics.

Unite and Len McCluskey are completely unapologetic, defiant even, about their behaviour and seem to be saying that they would do the same again - given the chance.

In other words the kind of machine politics that Ed Miliband promised to get rid of - is alive and well in the UK's largest trade union which doubles up, of course, as the Labour Party's biggest financial donor.

Glasgow and Cordia (20 January 2011)

A number of readers employed by Cordia and Glasgow City Council have been in touch - in recent days.Cordia is an arms length body set up by Glasgow City Council - to deliver much of the council's front-line social care and education services.

Cordia - via Glasgow City Council - employs over 10,000 people covering a wide range of services including: Home Carers, Catering Workers, Cleaners and Janitors.

As part of Glasgow's drive to reduce spending - Cordia has been discussing a package of possible 'cuts' with the trade unions which include:

1 a self-financing pay rise of 0.65%
2 the removal of premium rates for overtime working - beyond 37 hours per week

3 the removal of premium rates for bank holiday working.

What readers are asking is: "Can Glasgow City Council and Cordia get away with this?"

Well the answer is - No - they can't introduce new pay arrangements unilaterally - the employer has to seek agreement from the trade unions and/or the agreement of individual employees.

If the employer introduces these changes without such agreement - then their actions are open to challenge. 

The fly in the ointment - as so often - is that trade unions have the power to vary people's contracts of employment - through collective bargaining with employers.

Although trade unions have a duty to properly consult their members - before agreeing to any significant changes - which on occasion they conveniently ignore.

So, the big question is - What have the trade unions done? - the employers says that the unions have been consulted - but what have they said officially on behalf of their members?

Have the unions - probably GMB and Unison - said that they flatly reject the plans to cut the pay and conditions of already low paid workers?

If anyone knows the answer - then get in touch with Mark irvine at: markirvine@compuserve.com

It's possible that these proposals affect women workers more than men and - if so - that could also leave them open to challenge. 

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