Thursday, August 19, 2010

UNITE: Tory Cuts Bad, Our Cuts Good

The quote below comes from Unite’s statement to members about their finances for the last financial year. As might be expected the Government gets a bashing in the first paragraph for making cuts in public expenditure, but if you read the second paragraph, they start patting themselves on the back for making ‘cost cutting’ savings by scrapping the Amicus section!

Oh the irony!

UNITE THE UNION
REPORT OF THE JOINT GENERAL SECRETARIES
YEAR ENDED 31
DECEMBER 2009
Review of 2009 to date

The service provided by
officers, employees and activists will continue to improve through the
consolidation of departments and properties. Recognising the need to provide
members with the ability to "fight back" against unscrupulous employers using
the excuse of recession to attack members' wages, pensions and other terms and
conditions, at its May 2009 meeting, Unite's Executive Council approved a 131%
increase in the dispute benefit to £30 per day from Day 1 of a dispute. This
level of support for members on strike against their employer is unprecedented
in the British trade union movement. Three years after the formation of Unite,
the industrial and political benefits of the merger between Amicus and the
Transport and General Workers Union are clear for all to see. These benefits
will be all the more valuable to members in the face of a Tory led coalition
government whose primary focus seems to be to cut public expenditure and, consequently, reduce front line public services and public sector employment and potentially jeopardising the fragile economic recovery.

From a financial perspective, in 2009, Unite recorded a £9,384,000 surplus out of income from members – a very significant improvement versus the surplus of £339,000 recorded in 2008. This improved performance primarily resulted from cost cutting efforts made by the Union in most areas of expenditure, especially by the former Amicus Section.


THose of an uncharitable nature might think the word 'hypocrites' is in order.

PS Did you see Bob Crow awarded himself a 12% pay rise? He's now on a basic pay f £133,000. I'm sure he provided great value for money. Not.

14 comments:

The Purpleline said...

Iain, I hope somebody puts up a site that show the pay and benefits of the union staff so their members can get a real flavour of where their subs go.

I would also like to see the Tory party move to give companies operating individual wage and employment bargaining a tax break, which can be put back into wage and other benefits.

It is time to take unions out of the equation for good.

I would love to be the chairman of BA I would go into liquidation leave the pension pot in the old company and open up a fresh with non unionised staff.

Anonymous said...

"THose of an uncharitable nature might think the word 'hypocrites' is in order."

In that case I am uncharitable.

Unsworth said...

These guys are real dinosaurs. All this Class War bollox has run its course. I'm staggered at the language and sentiment - it's straight out of the 1950s and 60s. Fred Kite would have said exactly this sort of thing - indeed there are some physical similarities. However, he would not have been so remarkably well remunerated as these 'leaders' - and even he would not have have been so venal and self-interested.

Bardirect said...

According to today's Sun they have also FROZEN (so a cut in real terms) the salaries of their own staff! Still I suppose their "members" will be happy.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/money/3102496/Hypocrite-jibe-at-airport-union-Unite-after-pay-freeze-for-own-staff.html

Lossie Beachcomber said...

Comrade Crow has vanished from our screens since his pay award became public knowledge....


To be honest if that's all it takes to keep his sneering fat mug off my tv screen it's union subs money well spent.

If the membership of his union are so supine as to accept his massive salary and most astonishing pay rise while they have to accept pay restraints then they deserve to be fleeced by the obnoxious trougher!

Penfold said...

Sanctimonious, smug and still stuck in the attritional war of envy, greed and class.

Just check how much the leadership of this union pay themselves, plus benefits and expenses. Yet they claim to be representing the workers and are themselves working class.

They are the new class of apparatchiks and are firmly ensconced as upper middle class professionals. As for looking after the interests of their membership, I'm afraid their interests are self-interests, which leaves the membership at sea.

charles hercock said...

All the same
Union hippocracy

charles hercock said...

Unite must be brought to account
They are damaging our society

Robert said...

What Tory cuts? Public spending is set to rise under the coalition.

http://www.johnredwoodsdiary.com/?p=6798

Your head line should be: Tory increase in spending Bad, Our increase Good.

Actually both are bad. I thought Conservative government was about a smaller state.But then this is not a Conservative government.

Steve C said...

This is no surprise. The Unions will oppose what the coalition do pureley for opposition's sake.
Also, what, in a nutshell, is the purppose of a union? To get the most remuneration (wages, holiday, sick-pay etc)for their members for doing as little as they can get away with. Simples. With those sort of morals they are no better than the sweatshop employers they were formed to protect themselves from. Why are you surprised by anything Union bosses do or say?

simon said...

I don't especially like Bob Crow but he is very successful at negotiating pay increases, long holidays and so on.

I bet his members generally think he is worth the money he's paid. And if they didn't, they could vote him out (which is more than could be said for eg the overpaid execs at Network Rail....)

Henry Wood said...

Are you sure poor old Bob Crow gets £133,000? I ask because I'm sure I read somewhere he rents his home from a housing association. Don't they receive public subsidies?

Unsworth said...

@ Simon

"I don't especially like Bob Crow but he is very successful at negotiating pay increases, long holidays and so on."

Indeed - particularly for himself.

michael mercer said...

Over 100 members who work in Redruth Cornwall were abandoned by the Unite the Union.The company the members work for our changing their contracts from january 2011,were the unite members will be having to face pay cuts between 11-14 percent. Where was Unite? even though the latest profits from the company were 125 millon pounds. so much for solidarity