There have been two important developments, and I also want to draw attention to a UNITE campaign that every member should be supporting.
The European Parliament has at long last passed a revision to the European Works Council (EWC) Directive. UNITE's comments suggest this is generally positive.
MEPs also voted through amendments to the Working Time Directive. This was a very significant vote, with many Labour MEPs rebelling against the UK Government's long obstruction to this vital health & safety legislation, but unfortunately doesn't mean that we will necessarily see the end of the "opt-out".
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) rulings in the Viking, Laval and Ruffert cases are a very serious threat to union rights. Basically, the court believes that the right of companies to trade freely has precedence over the right of workers to take industrial action. This means that even if workers comply with the UK's ridiculous red-tape around industrial action ballots, any action could still be ruled illegal. UNITE has set up a web site to campaign on the issue at http://www.amicustheunion.org/lavalvikingruffert/. There's a petition on there which we should get everyone to sign. If we can collect a million signatures, we force the issue to the European Commission.
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Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Rebuttal
There is a document circulating unofficially in the union which is a transcript of Derek Simpson's speech at a recent UNITE F&GP meeting. In it, Derek falsely attributes the second comment on one of the articles on my web site to me. As you can clearly see, the comment is not anonymous, and is from another user (also called Ian). I want to make clear that the comment does not reflect my own views.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
UNITE Executive Council reports
The Joint General Secretaries (JGSs) have now produced their briefing on the 24-26 November Executive Council meeting, which I am happy to email to members on request.
The first day of the meeting was taken up with heated disagreements between the JGSs, primarily over the integration of the union. A lot of the issues which had previously been the subject of rumour and maneuvering finally came out in the open.
The EC set the JGSs a deadline to resolve the issues. A special EC was agreed for 18th December and the JGSs were told that if they hadn't agreed an integration plan by then, the EC would do so itself.
At the EC meeting on 18th December a plan was unanimously agreed, and I have the details of this for any members who want them.
The major outstanding issue is in many ways the key one for lay members. Not "who gets which jobs" at the top, but the structures for lay members to meet and deal with the real business of the union. Proposals for this should be coming to the January EC meeting. There's still a lot to do though - for example the issues about the composition of the "IT & Communications" sector remain unresolved. Lay members from the north-west (from Amicus and TGWU) looked at the question of the structures many months ago, and managed to reach consensus on a sensible approach to setting them up. I hope that the proposals from the JGSs are as good.
The first day of the meeting was taken up with heated disagreements between the JGSs, primarily over the integration of the union. A lot of the issues which had previously been the subject of rumour and maneuvering finally came out in the open.
The EC set the JGSs a deadline to resolve the issues. A special EC was agreed for 18th December and the JGSs were told that if they hadn't agreed an integration plan by then, the EC would do so itself.
At the EC meeting on 18th December a plan was unanimously agreed, and I have the details of this for any members who want them.
The major outstanding issue is in many ways the key one for lay members. Not "who gets which jobs" at the top, but the structures for lay members to meet and deal with the real business of the union. Proposals for this should be coming to the January EC meeting. There's still a lot to do though - for example the issues about the composition of the "IT & Communications" sector remain unresolved. Lay members from the north-west (from Amicus and TGWU) looked at the question of the structures many months ago, and managed to reach consensus on a sensible approach to setting them up. I hope that the proposals from the JGSs are as good.
Sovereign Bus Strike
The use of the anti-union laws to attack UNITE's pay campaign on the London buses was nothing short of a disgrace, especially given the overwhelming votes for action from the members.
Following this set-back, which led to UNITE calling off the strikes, there have been further ballots, and members at the first company (Sovereign) are due out on strike on 5th January.
A key issue in the dispute is the fact that there are big variations in pay for workers doing the same job in different companies - despite them all being regulated by Transport For London. Sovereign is one of the companies with the lowest pay.
UNITE has issued a collection sheet in support of the dispute, which I have made available online.
Following this set-back, which led to UNITE calling off the strikes, there have been further ballots, and members at the first company (Sovereign) are due out on strike on 5th January.
A key issue in the dispute is the fact that there are big variations in pay for workers doing the same job in different companies - despite them all being regulated by Transport For London. Sovereign is one of the companies with the lowest pay.
UNITE has issued a collection sheet in support of the dispute, which I have made available online.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
UNITE-Amicus MPs voting on the amendments to the Employment Act
In response to my report on the discussion at the Manchester Area Activists meeting about the very poor response from Labour MPs to the amendments to the Employment Act which aimed to improve workers’ rights, a branch secretary has kindly sent me a link to a site giving all the voting details. The amendments corresponded with parts of the Trade Union Freedom Bill.
I got the list of the UNITE-Amicus parliamentary group (couldn’t find the TGWU one) from here and matched the two against each other.
I’ve done some work to match the two together, and come up with this report, which I hope assists members in holding their MPs to account. I’ve coded the “payroll vote” (ministers etc) grey, those who didn’t vote as amber, those who voted for the amendment green, and the shameful votes of backbenchers who opposed the amendment red.
I do find some of the results surprising. I didn’t expect to find Paul Farrelly and Tony Lloyd on the list of shame, for example.
| MP | Constituency | Region | Party (role) | Vote |
| Alan Meale | Mansfield | East Midlands | Lab | no |
| John Mann | Bassetlaw | East Midlands | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Mark Todd | Derbyshire South | East Midlands | ABSENT | |
| Natascha Engel | North East Derbyshire | East Midlands | Lab | no |
| Nick Palmer | Broxtowe | East Midlands | Lab | aye |
| Patricia Hewitt | Leicester West | East Midlands | Lab | no |
| Phil Hope | Corby | East Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| Vernon Coaker | Gedling | East Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| Andrew MacKinlay | Thurrock | London & Eastern | Lab | aye |
| Andy Love | Edmonton | London & Eastern | Lab | no |
| Angela E Smith | Basildon | London & Eastern | Lab | no |
| Barbara Follett | Stevenage | London & Eastern | Lab (minister) | no |
| Barry Gardiner | Brent North | London & Eastern | Lab | no |
| Bill Rammell | Harlow | London & Eastern | Lab (minister) | no |
| Clive Efford | Eltham | London & Eastern | Lab | no |
| David Lammy | Tottenham | London & Eastern | Lab (minister) | no |
| Dr Ian Gibson | Norwich North | London & Eastern | Lab | aye |
| Gareth Thomas | Harrow West | London & Eastern | ABSENT | |
| Jim Dowd | Lewisham West | London & Eastern | Lab | no |
| Jim Fitzpatrick | Poplar & Canning Town | London & Eastern | Lab (minister) | no |
| Joan Ryan | Enfield North | London & Eastern | Lab | no |
| John Austin | Erith & Thamesmead | London & Eastern | ABSENT | |
| Rudi Vis | Finchley and Golders Green | London & Eastern | ABSENT | |
| Stephen Timms | East Ham | London & Eastern | ABSENT | |
| Tessa Jowell | Dulwich and West Norwood | London & Eastern | ABSENT | |
| Tony McNulty | Harrow East | London & Eastern | Lab (minister) | no |
| Tony Wright | Great Yarmouth | London & Eastern | Lab | aye |
| Andrew Gwynne | Denton & Reddish | North West | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Andrew Miller | Ellesmere Port & Neston | North West | Lab | aye |
| Ben Chapman | Wirral South | North West | Lab | no |
| David Crausby | Bolton North East | North West | Lab | no |
| David Watts | St Helens North | North West | Lab (minister) | no |
| George Howarth | Knowsley North & Sefton East | North West | Lab | no |
| Graham Stringer | Manchester, Blackley | North West | Lab | no |
| Greg Pope | Hyndburn | North West | Lab | no |
| Helen Southworth | Warrington South | North West | Lab | no |
| Ivan Lewis | Bury South | North West | Lab (minister) | no |
| James Purnell | Stalybridge & Hyde | North West | Lab (minister) | no |
| Jim Dobbin | Heywood & Middleton | North West | Lab | no |
| Kitty Ussher | Burnley | North West | Lab (minister) | no |
| Lindsay Hoyle | Chorley | North West | Lab | no |
| Maria Eagle | Liverpool, Garston | North West | Lab (minister) | no |
| Neil Turner | Wigan | North West | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Peter Kilfoyle | Liverpool, Walton | North West | ABSENT | |
| Robert Wareing | Liverpool, West Derby | North West | whilst Ind | aye |
| Ruth Kelly | Bolton West | North West | Lab | no |
| Shaun Woodward | St Helens South | North West | Lab (minister) | no |
| Tony Cunningham | Workington | North West | Lab (minister) | no |
| Tony Lloyd | Manchester Central | North West | Lab | no |
| Douglas Alexander | Paisley & Renfrewshire South | Scotland | Lab (minister) | no |
| Ian Davidson | Glasgow South West | Scotland | ABSENT | |
| Jimmy Hood | Lanark & Hamilton East | Scotland | ABSENT | |
| John Robertson | Glasgow North West | Scotland | Lab | no |
| Michael Martin | Glasgow North East | Scotland | SPEAKER | |
| Rosemary McKenna | Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East | Scotland | Lab | no |
| Tommy McAvoy | Rutherglen & Hamilton West | Scotland | Lab (minister) | no |
| Desmond Turner | Brighton Kemptown | South East | ABSENT | |
| Dr Phyllis Starkey | Milton Keynes South West | South East | Lab | no |
| Gwyn Prosser | Dover | South East | Lab | aye |
| Howard Stoate | Dartford | South East | Lab | no |
| John Denham | Southampton, Itchen | South East | Lab (minister) | no |
| Jonathan Shaw | Chatham & Aylesford | South East | Lab (minister) | no |
| Paul Clark | Gillingham | South East | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Sarah McCarthy-Fry | Portsmouth North | South East | Lab (minister) | no |
| Alison Seabeck | Plymouth, Devonport | South West | Lab | no |
| Ann Snelgrove | South Swindon | South West | Lab | no |
| Dan Norris | Wansdyke | South West | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Jim Knight | South Dorset | South West | Lab (minister) | no |
| Roger Berry | Kingswood | South West | Lab | no |
| Chris Bryant | Rhondda | Wales | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Dai Havard | Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney | Wales | Lab | aye |
| Ian Lucas | Wrexham | Wales | Lab (minister) | no |
| John Smith | Vale of Glamorgan | Wales | ABSENT | |
| Mark Tami | Alyn & Deeside | Wales | Lab (minister) | tellno |
| Sian James | Swansea East | Wales | Lab | no |
| Wayne David | Caerphilly | Wales | Lab (minister) | no |
| Bill Olner | Nuneaton | West Midlands | Lab | no |
| Bob Ainsworth | Coventry North East | West Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| David Kidney | Stafford | West Midlands | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Gisela Stuart | Birmingham, Edgbaston | West Midlands | Lab | no |
| Ian Austin | Dudley North | West Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| James Cunningham | Coventry South | West Midlands | Lab (PPS) | no |
| James Plaskitt | Warwick & Leamington | West Midlands | Lab | no |
| John Spellar | Warley | West Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| Khalid Mahmood | Birmingham, Perry Barr | West Midlands | Lab | no |
| Liam Byrne | Birmingham, Hodge Hill | West Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| Lynne Jones | Birmingham, Selly Oak | West Midlands | Lab | aye |
| Paul Farrelly | Newcastle-Under-Lyme | West Midlands | Lab | no |
| Sion Simon | Birmingham, Erdington | West Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| Stephen McCabe | Birmingham, Hall Green | West Midlands | Lab (minister) | tellno |
| Tom Watson | West Bromwich East | West Midlands | Lab (minister) | no |
| Alan Milburn | Darlington | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | ABSENT | |
| Barry Sheerman | Huddersfield | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| Christine McCafferty | Calder Valley | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | aye |
| Colin Challen | Morley & Rotherwell | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | ABSENT | |
| David Clelland | Tyne Bridge | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | ABSENT | |
| Dr Ashok Kumar | Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab (PPS) | no |
| Eric Illsley | Barnsley Central | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | aye |
| Fabian Hamilton | Leeds North East | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| Fraser Kemp | Houghton & Washington East | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| George Mudie | Leeds East | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| Gerry Sutcliffe | Bradford South | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab (minister) | no |
| Hilary Armstrong | North West Durham | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| Hilary Benn | Leeds Central | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab (minister) | no |
| Jim Cousins | Newcastle Upon Tyne Central | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | aye |
| John Battle | Leeds West | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| John Prescott | Kingston upon Hull East | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| Kevin Barron | Rother Valley | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| Linda Riordon | Halifax | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | aye |
| Richard Caborn | Sheffield Central | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | Lab | no |
| Terry Rooney | Bradford North | Yorkshire, Humberside & North-East | ABSENT |