theActivist members in ENGLAND & WALES

Issue 115
November 2022

IRELAND

Usdaw general secretary election - the fight continues

SOCIALIST PARTY MEMBERS IN USDAW

P
addy Lillis has been re-
elected unopposed as
Usdaw general secre-
tary following the nomi-
nation process which
saw Socialist Party member Scott
Jones receive eight nominations,
short of the required amount.
Scott stood to try to force an
election for general secretary for
the first time since 2008, and a
therefore a debate about the di-
rection of the union. Scott stood
on a platform of fighting for bet-
ter pay - the need to fight for
better deals to beat the cost-of-
living crisis and win new mem-
bers to the union, vital given that ▶▶▶ SCOTT (RIGHT) ON SAINSBURY’S PICKET LINE IN 2019, ALONGSIDE FELLOW SOCIALIST PARTY MEMBER
we have 50,000 fewer members AND FORMER USDAW PRESIDENT AMY MURPHY (LEFT)
than Usdaw had five years ago. A
programme of joining the trade pay, show that shop and distri-
union fightback, more union de- bution workers in the union are
mocracy - only half of branches
nominated either candidate at
prepared to fight back.
Scott’s campaign won the sup-
Usdaw staff On Wednesday evening I was
shocked to see an e-mail being
all - and a workers’ general sec- port of a number of branches strike over pay shared on social media which

retary on a workers’ wage.
If we are to harness the poten-
tial power we have as a union of
over 350,000 members, then we
must seek to involve as many of
our members as possible in our
activities, whether that be as a rep,
in their local branch, or beyond.
It is a shame that during this
current strike wave, the only dis-
pute Usdaw is involved in is with
its own staff!
Under previous rules Scott
would be on the ballot paper
but the required number was
upped to 25 after left candidate
and Socialist Party member Rob-
bie Segal ran and won 40% of the
vote in 2008.
Strikes in recent years and in
Tesco distribution, where last
year’s threatened strike action
saw Tesco bosses concede higher
who either nominated him or
tried to, as well as a number of
activists and members in the
union. The task is now to build
on this and continue the fight in
future elections such as the up-
coming EC election.
●● Join us in that fightback
by joining the Usdaw Broad
Left (https://tinyurl.com/
usdawbroadleft) and the
Socialist Party.
Join the fightback
JOIN THE
SOCIALISTS
●● Visit socialistparty.org.uk/join
●● or call 020 8988 8777
●● or text your name and
postcode to 07761 818 206
to find out more today!
and working
arrangements
Usdaw clerical and ancillary
staff, organised in the GMB
union, took strike action in
September in a dispute over
pay and hybrid working. This
has recently been followed by a
further two half-day strikes until
12 noon on October 27th and
28th, where Usdaw’s leadership
locked out striking workers for
the rest of both of those days. Iain
Dalton, an Usdaw member who
is also a member of the Socialist
Party, went along to the picket
line outside Usdaw’s Salford
Quays office on October 27th. We
asked him to give us his thoughts
from the picket line.
indicated that Usdaw staff in
the GMB who were in dispute
over their recent pay negotia-
tions, would be in the words of
the GMB “locking out their own
staff”. I was very disappointed
to see that such a tactic that we
would condemn any other em-
ployer for using was being used
by my own trade union.
That made my mind up to go
down to the picket line to speak
with the strikers about the dis-
pute. Usdaw’s new office at Sal-
ford Quay was shut for the whole
of the two days on which strike
action was taking place, with ar-
rangements apparently in place
for any staff not involved in the
strike to work from home.
On the picket line were staff
from a range of departments,
▶▶▶ CONTINUED OVER

usdawactivist.wordpress.com ■ usdawactivist@gmail.com ■ Facebook: ‘Usdaw Activist’ ■ Twitter: @UsdawActivist

theActivist
including legal, IT, research,
HR, education and others.
Along with several trade un-
ionists involved in local trades
councils, I was welcomed by the
strikers, many of whom wanted
to know what ordinary Usdaw
members knew and thought
about the strike.
A common feeling amongst
the strikers was that they felt
Usdaw’s ‘senior leadership’
who have been involved in the
negotiations with the GMB
were not prepared to listen to
ideas or suggestions from staff
members, which is why GMB
members had voted over-
whelmingly to put discussions
on hybrid working forward as
part of the discussion on pay.
Several of the strikers told me
they personally didn’t want to
work from home, but they knew
Strike Q&A
Q. Paddy Lillis has said the majority
of Usdaw staff have accepted the
offer, should GMB members be tak-
ing strike if that’s the case?
Usdaw’s staff are represented by
2 bargaining units. The first is the
Officials Association which repre-
sents Area Organisers. The second
consists of 2 different organisa-
tions representing clerical and an-
cillary workers nationally; these are
GMBx39 members and CASA mem-
bers which historically has operated
as an independent staff association.
The Union now holds joint pay ne-
gotiations, however, CASA members
were not represented due to not hav-
ing any representatives or genuine
functionality over recent years.
The Officals Association narrowly
accepted the offer and GMB mem-
bers overwhelmingly rejected it. The
bone of contention throughout these
negotiations is that the manage-
ment of the Union saw fit to ballot
CASA members on the offer who also
accepted.
The question rises of how inde-
pendent CASA actually is if Manage-
ment of the Union can ballot them on
usdawactivist.wordpress.com ■ usdawactivist@gmail.com ■ Facebook: ‘Usdaw Activist’ ■ Twitter: @UsdawActivist
the bulletin of
that other staff members would
benefit from that being an option
and that they felt as a result mem-
bers would get a better service.
Some of the strikers were
shocked that they had been
locked out in the afternoon,
with a number pointing out to
me that they had come to the
picket line dressed in the correct
an offer made at a meeting they had
no representation at.
It is clear that the decision to bal-
lot CASA members was intended to
split the workforce within the cleri-
cal and ancillary bargaining unit; the
first of a number of anti trade union
tactics deployed by the Union’s sen-
ior management team.
The increase was subsequently
applied to CASA members leaving
GMB members seeking further ne-
gotiations. Interesingly, colleagues
not members of any organisation are
also awaiting any increase whilst the
dispute rolls on.
The clerical and ancillary work-
force is now in a position whereby
colleagues employed in roles on the
same grading structure are being
paid differently.
According to the 2021 Annual
Report, Usdaw has in total 372 em-
ployees, this includes Departmental
Managers at central office and in
the regions and 97 Area Organisers.
So GMB’s membership represents a
sizeable proportion of the ancillary
and clerical workers. Moreover, they
have had a legitimate strike action
ballot to legally take action.
If another union in our work-
places accepted an offer, especially
members in
attire to work in the afternoon if
there was a last minute. There
was surprise that a trade union
employer would engage in such
a practice. To emphasis this at
12 o’clock the strikers queued
up to be let in to work.
I personally hope that the
senior leadership in Usdaw in-
volved in the dispute step back
representing other sections of staff
(such as the Officals Association
here), Usdaw members wouldn;t be
bound by that other union accept-
ance if we rejected it - so why should
Usdaw staff be any different. In fact,
to consider the opposite situation
where different unions were jointly
representing members doing the
same roles, there would be an ex-
pectation between the unions nego-
tiators to work jointly to harmonise/
match any increase; not apply an
increase to undermine any outstand-
ing dispute as seen here.
Q. Why should Usdaw staff be al-
lowed to work hybridly when that
simply isn’t possible for many Us-
daw members in retail, distribution
and manufacturing?
As a result of the pandemic many
companies have introduced hybrid
working policies, and quite rightly
our members in those companies
should be able to access that if
they so wish. But it totally undercuts
our negotiators position on these
issues if we are denying that right
to the union’s own staff; not least
by refusing to act in-line with Trade
union values and consult with their
workers.
from the approach they have
taken on these two days and
meet with GMB representatives
urgently so that this dispute
can be resolved. A commit-
ment to a timetable to be able
to introduce the necessary pol-
icy for hybrid working I think
would go along way towards
doing that.
Q. Who in Usdaw’s leadership has
the power to resolve this dispute?
The ultimate authority in Usdaw be-
tween Annual Delegate Meetings is the
union’s National Executive Committee
(NEC), made up of 15 members elect-
ed on a regional basis, the President
and the General Secretary. Whilst in
the rulebook the latter specifically has
the duty to “superintend and direct the
work of all employees of the union”,
the NEC additionally has “full control
of the business of the union”. This
means that the NEC could instruct the
GS or any other representatives of the
union that are involved in negotiations
with GMB X39 branch to restart those
negotiatons and put forward a time-
table to discuss implementing hybrid
working for staff.
Q. What can I do as an Usdaw mem-
ber to help resolve this dispute?
Individually you could write to the
General Secretary or your region’s
NEC members calling on them to re-
enter negotiations with GMB and put
forward a timetable to discuss imple-
menting hybrid working. But you can
also raise the issue at your Usdaw
branch and ask them to write to the
NEC as a whole with those demands
as well.