Union democracy

Oppose the University pay 'settlement' - for an emergency conference in the UCU

The deal which the University employers, the UCEA, has made with the new union, the University & College Union (UCU) has caused outrage amongst the membership of both component unions, NATFHE and the AUT. The deal goes out to ballot to the membership of the merged union, after the negotiating team of the former AUT took a pre-emptive decision to ballot in any case, calling off the no-marking sanctions that had been in operation. NATFHE after a 50-50 split amongst the Executive members who they are required to consult, decided that they had no option but to follow suit. The 'deal' The deal over...

Defend the Amicus Three!

By an Amicus member Some 30 Amicus members lobbied the March meeting of the Amicus National Executive Council (NEC) in protest at the previous week’s sacking of three Amicus employees: Des Heemskerk, Jimmy Warne and Cathie Willis. The three had been suspended from their jobs in Amicus in mid-September of last year. All three are leading members of the ‘Amicus Unity Gazette’, the broad left grouping in Amicus (although it is becoming ever less broad, and ever less left as time goes by – see below). Des Heemskerk is a former Deputy Convenor at Fords. At the request of Amicus General Secretary...

FBU copies China

Maybe for the first time ever, a trade union has tried to block its members’ access to a website, in a move similar to the Chinese government’s restrictions on Internet access. The Executive Committee of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has decided to try to shut down the “uk-fire” website, which, in its former guise of “30k” was a key part of holding together the rank and file of the FBU during the pay dispute. Since then, the uk-fire website has been an open discussion forum for firefighters, both FBU members and others. Now the FBU Executive is claiming that the discussion forum is contrary to...

GMB needs more democracy

On 7 April Kevin Curran resigned as General Secretary of the GMB union, to be replaced as acting General Secretary by the man whom he defeated in the election for the job two years, Paul Kenny. Curran had been suspended as General Secretary on allegations of misdeeds in the election. Now a joint statement by him and the union says that he leaves with “his reputation and integrity intact… Each party has agreed to keep the terms of the settlement confidential. Neither party will be making any further statement”. A union activist comments on the background to these moves: The key issue in the GMB...

“Super-union” plan could mean turn inwards

The proposed “super-union” formed from a merger between AMICUS, TGWU and possibly the GMB, is an issue that should be taken seriously by all socialists. The idea that there should be no barriers between working class people in the representation of their interests at work is an important and progressive one. The UK trade union movement has been beset by historical and personal rivalries, partial views of the class struggle. Coming together can sometimes eradicate out these weaknesses. Unity is strength! However there are areas of serious concern about the proposed merger. I do not think the...

Fight to make the “super-union” democratic!

By Jim Denham The proposed creation of a giant new union, made up of the TGWU, Amicus and (probably) the GMB has caused much excitement and some misgivings within the trade union movement. The idea was hatched from lengthy and highly secretive talks between the TGWU’s Tony Woodley and Amicus’s Derek Simpson. Even the executives of the two unions knew nothing about it until a joint announcement from the two general secretaries on 2 February. The secrecy was probably necessary, given the extremely delicate nature of the negotiations, but it also served to fuel concerns about democratic rights...

Militant activist wins key position in Fire Brigades Union

Matt Wrack, a militant activist from the London region, has won a resounding victory to become the Fire Brigades Union's new Assistant General Secretary. Wrack's victory over leadership favourite John McGhee is a clear warning signal to General Secretary Andy Gilchrist, who is up for re-election himself later this year, that FBU members are not prepared to 'forgive and forget' the poor leadership of the Gilchrist faction (of which John McGhee was a leading member) over the past few years. The election result shows that while many members of the union remain disheartened and demoralised (the...

FBU leaders face both ways on their witch-hunt

The leadership of the Fire Brigades Union has finally conceded that Paul Woolstenholmes, the FBU National Officer suspended for over three months in a witch-hunt directed against those who were critical of the leadership during the pay dispute, has no case to answer. Paul will shortly return to work. FBU members see this a major defeat for the Gilchrist leadership. Ever since Woolstenholmes beat the sitting National Officer Mike Lawson in an election during the dispute, the Gilchrist leadership has been running scared, and have used a combination of witch-hunts and delaying tactics to avoid...

Grassroots challenges FBU leaders

By Nick Holden Fire Brigades Union (FBU) leaders are claiming a victory in the final stages of their two year long pay dispute. They say management are finally paying previously-agreed pay increases from the 2003 pay deal. However, as the rank and file body Grassroots FBU point out, “the employers were able to delay payment of the 3.5% and 4.2% because of the vague and inadequate pay deal negotiated by the FBU leadership in 2003”. The whole history of the FBU pay campaign is one of continual retreat — right at the beginning of the dispute at the end of 2002 the leadership called off strike...

Rank and file control needed in Tube dispute

As we go to press, Tube workers still have to rely on rumour to guess what is happening in their dispute on pay, hours and jobs, which was due to be settled over four months ago, on 1 April this year. Further strike action may be announced soon, but no-one knows yet. The biggest Tube union, the RMT, has put in a claim for a 32-hour week and wage increases to bring Station Assistants up to £22,000 a year. London Underground bosses have counter-demanded large job cuts. After much to-and-fro and delay, the RMT called a strike on 29-30 June, which was very well-supported and effective despite...

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