Frances O'Grady: #HeartUnions Week

Great video by the TUC General Secretary, Frances O'Grady on "Love Unions" week.

When Workers Unite

Great cartoon from USA Union General Electrics Workers union. If you want to know what trade unionism is all about, this says pretty much it all. Unity is strength. United we stand, divided we fall.  

Labour Local Government Association Conference 2016

Picture taken today at the end of the conference with the 3 J's - James, Jeremy and John. Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn (and a UNISON member) fellow Newham Councillor (and UNISON member), James Beckles.  I had never been to this conference before (nor Nottingham where it was held) and was impressed with both.  I will post a fuller report soon.

Forest Gate North Labour Branch AGM & HeartUnions Campaign

Yesterday I had my 2nd Labour Movement AGM in a row. On Wednesday I went to  the UNISON Greater London Region AGM, where I was re-elected (for the 8th consecutive year) as a Regional Council Officer (the Executive Convener for Finance).

Last night I went to my local Labour Party branch AGM for Forest Gate North.  Where I was elected as Vice Chair of the branch and my good trade union comrade, Anamul Islam, was elected Chair.  The excellent existing Secretary, Heather Jones, was also re-elected unopposed. The former Chair Rachel Tripp who stepped down was thanked for all her hard work in the past.

It was heartening to see so many members turn up to the AGM and want to get involved. We had to move to a bigger room and then bring down even more chairs. It shows that people are definitely interested in politics again.

I made it clear in the mini "hustings" that I wanted change in West Ham and Newham Labour politics and that branches, affiliates and above all members should have a greater voice and role to play in the local Party.  

At the end of the meeting members gathered for the picture above to support the TUC campaign against the Tory Anti trade union bill currently going through the House of Lords - "HeartUnion". 

Greater London UNISON AGM 2016

Another AGM and another victory for the forces of light and reason in Greater London UNISON yesterday. UNISON delegates voted overwhelmingly in favour of a sensible left slate and reselected the existing Regional Council Officers for another year (including yours truly).

Many thanks to all our supporters.

Congratulations to Yvonne, Conroy, Liz, Lynn and Ashlyn (not in picture). I will post further on the meeting.

"Disciplinary procedures: six common mistakes made by inexperienced managers"

Hat tip Personnel Today and UNISON Scottish Community sector on Facebook. 

"Employers often spend a large amount of time drafting a fair disciplinary policy, but fail to give the same attention to training their staff to put it into practice. Fiona Cuming sets out six common mistakes made by inexperienced managers.

1. Not following the Acas code of practice

Managers need to be familiar with the Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, as well as their own disciplinary rules and procedures.
Although a failure to follow the code does not in itself make an employer liable to proceedings, employment tribunals will take the code into account when considering relevant cases.

2. Not warning the employee of the possible consequences

The employee must be made fully aware of the likely disciplinary penalties if the allegations are upheld.
Depending on the seriousness of the allegations, the possible penalty might be a formal verbal warning, a written warning, a final written warning or indeed dismissal. In short, the disciplinary decision should not contain any surprises.

3. Including new allegations without investigating

It can be tempting to add any new allegations that surface during a disciplinary investigation to the current ones that are subject to the disciplinary process.
This is not advisable, as any fresh allegations must be fully investigated before a disciplinary hearing takes place.

4. Issuing the penalty without considering all relevant factors

Managers should consider what type of penalty has been imposed in similar cases in the past. They should then bear in mind the particular circumstances. This can include the employee’s disciplinary record, his or her general work record and position within the organisation as well as length of service.
Managers must also take into account any mitigating circumstances. This could cover matters relating to the employee’s health, any domestic problems, or whether or not the behaviour in question arose due to the employee being provoked. If the employee has breached a rule, consideration needs to be given to whether or not the employee was reasonably aware of that rule.

5. Not checking what penalties are allowed under the disciplinary policy

Only in very serious cases will summary dismissal for a first offence be merited. In cases of minor misconduct, a series of warnings before dismissal will be more fitting.
In Thomson v Imperial College NHS Trust, the disciplinary manager dismissed Dr Thomson for gross misconduct even though he did not find the behaviour in question amounted to gross misconduct. He took account of a prior first written warning.

The tribunal found the dismissal was unfair because the trust’s own policy only allowed for summary dismissal for conduct that, of itself, did not amount to gross misconduct, where the employee had received a previous final written warning and not a first one.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) upheld the tribunal’s decision. It found that the “absence of training or experience” of the disciplinary manager was “something that directly affected the fairness of the disciplinary proceedings”.

6. Getting the reason for the dismissal wrong

Employers sometimes struggle to categorise the type of behaviour that has given rise to the allegation. A dismissal will be considered unfair, even if the employee could have been dismissed fairly on the facts, if the stated reason for the dismissal is incorrect.

In Jinadu v Docklands Buses Ltd, Ms Jinadu, a bus driver, was dismissed because she had refused to attend a training centre to assess her driving skills. She appealed and this was adjourned to allow her to attend a driving assessment, which she finally agreed to do. She failed the assessment and was dismissed when the appeal panel reconvened.

Ms Jinadu brought a claim of unfair dismissal in the employment tribunal. She was not successful and she appealed the decision. The EAT sent the case back to the tribunal to determine as a starting point the correct reason for her dismissal".

Campaigning for Sadiq Khan as Labour Mayor for London in Maryland, E15

Picture from West Ham's campaign session for Sadiq Khan to be London Mayor in Maryland, Stratford, E15 on Saturday.

Our MP, Lyn Brown, was out with activists in the rain and the sunshine encouraging residents to vote for Sadiq in May.

It was great to see new members of the Party out knocking on doors and talking to residents. I had conversations about planning, environment, parking and of course - housing. I had some ear bashing but people seemed, by and large, pleased that we were there so they could let us know their views. We had one lady who was extremely upset that we had knocked on her door and let us know it in no uncertain terms. This happens from time to time but surprisingly rarely.

I had to finish a little early to go and help set up the Newham United Against Austerity (NUAA) launch event with key note speaker, Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP. Post on this to follow.

Site firms ordered to release blacklisting information

Hat tip TUC risks ,Dave Smith, who was blacklisted for many years is one of my former TUC tutors.  At the height of the London building boom despite being a skilled carpenter he could not get a job due to his trade union activities. He and his family had to rely on social security. 

"A High Court judge has ordered 30 construction firms, including Sir Robert McAlpine and Balfour Beatty, to disclose all emails and correspondence linked to the blacklisting of union reps and safety activists. The ruling came at the end of a two-day hearing last week where it emerged that documents had been destroyed linking the firms with the illegal covert blacklister, the industry-controlled and financed Consulting Association. Firms and four individuals will now have to carry out costly searches of back-up computer records of emails to disclose any relevant information by 12 February.

The court also ruled that contractors must pay costs for the hearing, estimated at up to £100,000. The union-backed High Court hearing is part of ongoing legal action on behalf of 168 blacklisted workers. In October last year major construction firms admitted their involvement in the illegal blacklist (Risks 724). Howard Beckett, director of legal services with the union Unite, commented: “Despite admitting their guilt, it is shameful the lengths that some of the construction firms involved in blacklisting have gone to cover up their involvement.” He added that the “stain of blacklisting” would not be fully removed “until there is a full public inquiry and the livelihoods of the blacklisted is restored by the firms involved giving them a permanent job.” 

Dave Smith of the Blacklist Support Group, whose members are also party to the court case, said: “All of the platitudes and half apologies, all their crocodile tears and claims of rogue managers from the companies over the past six or seven years are clearly nonsense. Documents have been destroyed and directors of multinational companies are hiding stuff on their laptops.” The former UCATT safety rep and blacklisted worker added: “It calls into question all of the promises made to Parliament and the High Court. I am not a lawyer but I would have thought that destroying evidence that would almost certainly have been used in a court case might be considered perverting the course of justice.”

Ÿ  Unite news release. Blacklist blog. Morning Star. Construction Enquirer.

West Ham Women's Forum with Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Seema Malthora MP

 Picture collage from West Ham Women’s Forum open discussion meeting with Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Seema Malthora MP.

The theme of the meeting was:-

• How does Labour gain economic credibility with the British public and by when?
•  What is Corbynomics and could it work? How radical is it in reality, and does it stack up as a practical plan for creating economic growth?
• How will we encourage economic empowerment of women entrepreneurship?
• How are we as a party developing our policies and policy positions for a very important Party Conference in 2018?
• What is the Labour Party’s vision of a 21st Century Welfare State?
• What is the Labour Party’s vision of UK Technology and digital infrastructure?
• What is Labour’s response to local government budget cuts?

This event was organised by our Women's Officer, Seyi Akiwowo and was open to men and women. Seema got held up with London Underground problems, so our local MP, Lyn Brown stepped in for a Q&A until Seema arrived.

When she did arrive she pointed out that the awful delayed 2 hour journey she had experienced showed the need to get a London Labour Mayor in charge of transport!

Seema spoke about Labour values and directions. Labour in a future government would think differently and be long term. There is an alternative economic policy. The Tory cuts are the wrong type of cuts and what we want is to see the economy growing and the government getting more taxes in. Women had paid the biggest price from this governments cuts. She also supported small businesses as the backbone of the economy and had herself grown up in a flat above a small family business.

Seema is a "safe pair of hands" as Shadow Chief Secretary - sensible, confident, quiet but firm. Afterwards we went off to Jerrys, a local cafe for some drinks and snacks.

What to do if you are a trade unionist with a pension manager that attacks you?

Check out another great post by  Tom P

"Ahh.... Fidelity, the lure of right-wing British politics is just too strong for you isn't it?

I've blogged previously about the latest Fidelity link to the Tories - their involvement with the Leaders Group. According to the Conservative Party's own website this is the "premier supporter group" for the Tories, with an annual membership of £50,000.

As if you were in any doubt about which party Fidelity were rooting for in the General Election, the Q1 2015 disclosure of which "major donors" attended Leaders Group meals in the first quarter shows that both Barry Bateman and Simon Haslam represented Fidelity (FIL Holdings in the list). It isn't clear if the were both at one meeting, or if more than one was attended. As well as being a board member of FIL, Simon Haslam is of course also chair of Colt, where Fidelity is the major investor.

Of course the Conservative Party has embarked on a major assault on trade unions since the election, something that was trailed in their manifesto. If you are a trade unionist who is a pension fund trustee or otherwise has some involvement in this area you might want to choose asset managers who don't fund attacks on you".