Union fury at official's suspension
AN ANGRY union leader is warning of possible industrial action at Doncaster Council after a top Unison official at the authority was suspended.
Branch secretary Jim Board, one of four convenors for the trade union Unison, was suspended on Monday afdfasdfternoon - at the same time as Mayor of Doncaster Peter Davies was running a press conference to reveal he is in talks with a non-TUC affiliated union which provides financial backing to his own party.
Mr Board was suspended after a meeting with council human resources bosses. It is believed to be over an embargoed interview he conducted with a television news channel shortly before guilty pleas were taken in the court case last week involving two boys who tortured another pair of youngsters in Edlington.
A Council spokesperson said: "It is not appropriate to comment on individual staffing matters."
But Unison's regional organiser Robin Symons said: "We view this is an attack on trade unionism.
We are of the view this is victimisation of a trade union activist, and I'm quite sure our members are going to be angered by this.
"We will be holding a members' meeting and see if we are proved right. Clearly we will be looking to ballot members for industrial action. I don't think members would expect any less when they have basically cut off the head of Unison.
"I think everyone who has worked for Doncaster Council has in some way benefited from Jim's representation and negotiating skills. I would not be surprised if they want to show their support."
He described Mr Board as having the highest profile of the Unison convenors at Doncaster.
He is also angry about the mayor's meeting with the Workers of England Union, an organisation set up last month which offers to represent staff who work in England.
The WEU is opposed to unions paying money to the Labour Party and intends to pay money to the campaign for an English parliament and to the English Democrat Party - Mr Davies' own party.
Union president Carleton Maflin was invited to Doncaster on Monday and held talks with Mr Davies. They held a joint press conference.
The WEU hopes to set up a branch in Doncaster but Mr Symons said he was not happy with the move and did not feel it was an appropriate action for the mayor to take. He said: "If Peter Davies wants a fight on his hands over this, he is going the right way."
Mr Symons believes Mr Davies wants to save money by removing the convenors, who are paid council staff seconded to carry out union work under an agreement with the authority.
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Latest sport Mr Symons said the alternative under ACAS terms would be one shop steward per 50 members, which he says would mean more work time lost.
WEU president Mr Maflin, a former GMB shop steward, said the new union was not intending to compete with existing organisations, but wanted to provide an alternative for those who did not want to bankroll Labour.
He added: “There are a lot of disgruntled union members who see Labour’s problems, see they may not get elected at the next election and are unhappy that they are still paying into a political fund.
“We thought we would set up a union that gave the chance to put money into a political fund that put money into English causes. The union has been received fantastically well and Peter Davies invited us to Doncaster. We’re not here to berate any other union. There are some unions who have done a fantastic job. But there are people who don’t feel it’s right that Labour has a monopoly on the political fund.”
Unison has around 5,000 members at Doncaster Council. GMB and Unite have around 900 members each.
No comment was available from Mr Davies.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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