THIS BLOG CAN reveal that the FBU general secretary, Matt Wrack, sent an angry late-night email to members of the union’s executive council (EC) denying a charge by this blog that a threat to discipline members who joined a breakaway union was unlawful.
The threat was contained in a statement issued on 18 September by the union following an emergency meeting of the EC. The meeting had been called in response to the creation of the London Firefighters Union (LFU), which said it had been formed as a result of the “cover-ups and corruption” of the FBU leadership.
The EC statement informed members that they would face disciplinary action if they joined the new union while remaining a member of the FBU. But, as this blog pointed out, such action would be unlawful under section 65(2)(g) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act (TULRCA), which expressly prohibits trade unions from disciplining members for “resigning or proposing to resign from the union or from another union, becoming or proposing to become a member of another union, refusing to become a member of another union, or being a member of another union”.
In response to our blog, the general secretary sent an email to EC members rejecting the suggestion that the threat of disciplinary action was unlawful. In his email, the general secretary confirms that he has read our blog on the subject and accuses us of existing “to create mischief in the FBU”. He then goes on to say, “I note that today the clown running the scabby X account has been promoting the most recent blog.” (We assume the general secretary is referring here to the person running the X (formerly known as Twitter) account for the LFU.)
The general secretary then employs what can only be described as a bizarre line of defence. He argues that the legislative protections would not apply in this case because “The so-called LFU is simply a fantasy. It is not real. It doesn’t actually exist.” He then reassures EC members that “We don’t need to worry whatsoever about latest drivel from clowns.”
The general secretary’s stance obviously raises certain questions. Such as:
If the new union is merely a “fantasy” that “doesn’t actually exist”, why on Earth did the EC meet in emergency session to discuss it?
If the new union is merely a “fantasy” that “doesn’t actually exist”, why rush out a statement condemning its launch?
If the new union is merely a “fantasy” that “doesn’t actually exist”, why threaten disciplinary action against any member who joins it?
Whatever the general secretary says, it is undeniable that an organisation called the London Firefighters Union has come into existence and is currently operating (albeit at a very elementary level). Indeed, this is a reality that the EC statement itself recognises! To therefore suggest, as the general secretary does in his email, that the new union is nothing more than a figment of someone’s imagination, and therefore the law doesn’t apply, is plainly unsustainable.
We stress, as before, that nobody from Campaign for a Democratic FBU has any involvement with the LFU. We were as surprised as anyone by its emergence. Our focus remains on winning back the FBU for its members, and we will not be diverted from that aim.
But we also believe that the heavy-handed approach taken by the FBU leadership in response to the creation of the new union is the wrong one. The reality is that many members in London – and, indeed, across the country – are deeply unhappy at the manner in which our union is being run. It is inevitable that some of these members will be drawn to the new union. These members need to hear that the FBU leadership has recognised their grievances and is addressing them. The leadership won’t win hearts and minds by taking a “big stick” approach. Instead, it needs to persuade disgruntled members by means of reasoned debate and discussion. Throwing the rule book at anyone who doesn’t toe the line – something the leadership increasingly resorts to – is not the way to go about things.
At the very least, FBU members are entitled to expect that the leadership gets the basics right. Threatening members with unlawful disciplinary action, for whatever reason, is plainly unacceptable. And when such a threat is made, it deserves to be subjected to proper scrutiny.
The email from the general secretary to EC members shows the FBU leadership to be neither thinking nor acting coherently. It is a leadership whose judgement is too often clouded by its desire to win tribal internal battles and thinks that chucking out threats of discipline – even unlawful ones – is the answer to opposition and dissent.
This cannot go on.
*** Full text of email from general secretary to EC members ***
I don’t normally read the blog from the strange ‘campaign’ group which exists to create mischief in the FBU. However, I note that today the clown running the scabby X account has been promoting the most recent blog.
This suggests that the EC decision yesterday is unlawful under TULCRA. This is because Tory anti-union law includes provision against a union taking action against members who leave a union or who join another.
What genius!
They seem to forget, however, that no actual ‘union’ exists. The so called LFU is simply a fantasy. It is not real. It doesn’t actually exist.
The law (even Tory anti-union law) gives no protection to non-existent ‘unions’.
We don’t need to worry whatsoever about latest drivel from clowns.
In unity
Matt