A purely personal view

In the last post on this blog I expressed my solidarity with my friend and comrade, Paul Holmes, president of UNISON, following his dismissal by Kirklees Council.

Those involved in the campaign of solidarity with Paul are rightly focusing on positive messages. 

It is particularly important that UNISON is supporting a claim for interim relief in Paul's case.

This is because his dismissal plainly relates to conduct which he undertook in a trade union capacity.

This means that his dismissal would be likely to be found to be unfair because it penalises him for undertaking the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time.

I know from my own experience of many years of trade union activity, including both cases involving myself and other union representatives, that the law protects union representatives from dismissal or other detriment in such circumstances.

If a trade union representative is alleged to have conducted themselves in an unsatisfactory manner whilst carrying out trade union activities - and Paul refutes all allegations against him - it is for the trade union and not the employer to hold them to account.

Because Paul and his supporters are rightly focused on a positive campaign they will not, I should imagine, have very much to say about those who have taken to social media in the days since Paul's dismissal to publicise what are allegedly details of allegations against him, made in an anonymous statement ostensibly from various complaints.

Because this is a personal blog of a retired UNISON member whose comments are not the responsibility of the trade union, or of anyone in the trade union, I do not need to exercise such restraint.

I speak here for no one but myself and am accountable to none.

I can therefore say that taking a complaint about a fellow trade unionist to the employer is the moral equivalent of crossing a picket line.

I can say that those who publicise allegations which are still under investigation by a trade union in the immediate aftermath of a decision to dismiss a trade union activist by an employer are behaving disgracefully.

It is shameful to say that this includes some members of UNISON's NEC and also leading members of the increasingly inappropriately named Socialist party. They should think again.

I can say that no socialist, and no self-respecting trade unionist, would ever behave in such a way. We do not accept the decision of an employer as if it determined any case. We defend trade unionists who have been dismissed and support them in appeals and employment tribunals as part of the day-to-day work of our movement. The fact that an employer’s disciplinary panel has arrived at a conclusion proves nothing whatsoever to a trade union activist.

Trade unions in general, and UNISON in particular, may well need better processes to resolve internal disagreements and deal with complaints that may arise. Any shortcomings in UNISON's procedures cannot be laid at the door of the newly elected National Executive Council (NEC) who have faced months of obstruction from UNISON officials. I hope that paid officials will work constructively with our NEC to improve things for the future.

It may be ironic that everything that has been said about this case in public supports the contention that Paul's dismissal is a dismissal for a trade union reason and that his case against the employer is only strengthened by these inappropriate disclosures.

Intelligent socialists should not take things at face value but should consider what is really going on. The question of who benefits from the dismissal of Paul Holmes, were it to be allowed to stand, is that the beneficiaries are to be found in the ranks of the employer and of reactionary elements within the trade union.

In this case of victimisation of a trade union activist by an employer I have no hesitation in standing beside a fellow trade unionist. UNISON is officially supporting Paul Holmes in a claim for interim relief to the employment tribunal and all socialists and trade unionists should likewise stand in solidarity to support Paul against his dismissal by Kirklees Council.