We are awaiting the results of the election for UNISON General Secretary. The lengthy delay between the close of the ballot and the timetabled date for the announcement of the vote has presumably been set to allow time for a full investigation into any complaints, after the unfortunate experience of the last election.
Five years ago this weekend I was overcoming having been flattered to be mentioned in an email circulated widely within our union by five very important people as follows;
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 12:09 PM
Subject: GENERAL SECRETARY ELECTION: COMPLAINT: GREATER LONDON REGION
TO: NEC
SENIOR AND NATIONAL MANAGERS
REGIONAL SECRETARIES
REGIONAL CONVENORS
SERVICE GROUP CHAIRS
RMT – GREATER LONDON REGION
Dear Colleague
As you know a number of serious allegations have been made against our union in London.
The complaints are being investigated.
Whilst it is not our practice to comment on an ongoing investigation on this occasion we believe there is one aspect that warrants public disclosure. This can be done without compromising the rights of those involved in this matter.
The complaint presented by Jon Rogers relies heavily on an anonymous recording. Given the seriousness of this tape the union commissioned an independent forensic report of the recording. The Presidential Team and the Trustees of the union now have the full report from the Audio Forensic Service.
The forensic analysis was undertaken by an accredited audio specialist and the company is used by the High Court for audio evidence.
The report clearly states that “the probability of tampering is exceptionally high”. On a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high), the Independent Expert rates the tape as a 5/5.
The results have been passed to the Investigating Officer and the ERS and as the Presidential Team and Trustees we are also asking for a formal investigation of the providence of the recording.
Please share as appropriate.
WENDY NICHOLS, PRESIDENT
ERIC ROBERTS, VICE PRESIDENT
CAROL SEWELL, VICE PRESIDENT
MAUREEN LE MARINEL, TRUSTEE
CHRIS TANSLEY, TRUSTEE
By the time the investigations to which this email referred had made any progress, the Union had accepted the essential veracity of the recording of the meeting which the authors of this email had sought to impugn - and the Assistant Certification Officer had, in due course, some harsh words for the email itself.
My purpose in writing this blog post now is not to remind the remaining authors of that email how badly wrong they then were (nor even to initiate a discussion as to the meaning of the words “providence” and “provenance”), but to alert those with an interest in the UNISON General Secretary election to the possibility that those in positions of authority in our trade union may try to minimise any evidence of malpractice which may come to light.
Of course I hope things have moved on in UNISON in the intervening years…
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