Unite the Union general secretary Sharon Graham have again been slammed for alleged abuse of workers. Unite’s Officers’ National Committee (ONC) has written to Graham to notify her of a “collective grievance” over how internal investigations have been handled.

Specifically, the workers have called out Graham and the union for their handling of smears against a whistleblower who alleged that Unite had offered a highly-paid ‘ghost job’ in the union to a Heathrow baggage handler. Allegedly, the job offer was made to incentivise him not to stand for election against a Graham ally.

According to the whistleblower, the “ghost worker” is unknown to supposed union ‘colleagues’ and appears not to have done any work. However, this “ghost worker” withdrew from the executive election at around the same time as accepting the ‘job’. The whistleblower’s report claimed that the two were directly linked – and there are also allegations of a head-butting incident involving one of Unite’s representatives, after a dispute over the union’s refusal to suspend the ‘ghost worker’ pending investigation – which police are investigating.

Unite the Union in disarray

The ONC letter informs Graham that officers are “appalled” at Unite resorting to attacks on the whistleblower. The union has admitted that the complainant was under investigation but said the complainant had “an axe to grind” after he called for an investigation into the allegations.

The ONC grievance says that:

The national committee is appalled that in response to a protected disclosure by a Unite officer, [Unite] has chosen to publicly attack the whistleblower.

Unite admitted that Graham had received the letter and that it was acting “impartially and in good faith” but had not found enough evidence to merit disciplinary action against the alleged head-butter. Following its usual pattern under Graham, Unite claimed all complaints were ‘bully boy tactics’ driven by a wish to attack Graham for supposedly ‘cleaning up’ Unite. However, these assertions from Graham are claims that she has been making for more than four years without bringing forward anything more specific or detailed.

The ONC’s letter is not the first time the group has brought allegations against Graham. In January, the ONC accused her of using Murdoch-era union-busting laws against workers and against Unite officers trying to unionise and take collective action.

Unite claims it has launched an investigation; into the allegations, but already dismissed the whistleblower’s claims of election rigging as “categorically false”. The baggage handler, who no longer has the ‘ghost’ position, also denied any wrongdoing.

Ongoing allegations of abuse

Sharon Graham has been surrounded by allegations of abuse and anti-worker tactics throughout her tenure as Unite general secretary. Bargaining and Dispute Support Unit (BDSU) staff have been in dispute with the union and her husband Jack Clarke over alleged bullying and abuse by Clarke and his allies – far from the first such allegations against Clarke – and have accused Graham and her management team of employing intimidation, suspension and anti-union tactics against the staff in the dispute, outraging Unite’s National Industrial Sector Committee (NISC) for the print and graphics sector and the leaders of two unions representing Unite staff and officers.

More than 90% of Unite staff working at the union’s Holborn HQ voted for strike action over these issues. Three – some claim four – of the five women who worked in Clarke’s department since Graham formed it and put him in charge of it have left it, with union sources saying that they also alleged bullying and abuse. The Unite staff’s union branch unanimously condemned Unite’s abuse of its staff.

On Unite’s executive council, Graham’s allies used expensive lawyers and legal process to block the removal of the chair – a close Graham ally whose handling of key issues led to him losing the confidence of many ‘exec’ members – a tactic the union has used repeatedly, at huge cost to members.

And last year, Graham’s lawyers admitted to Skwawkbox that the union had destroyed evidence gathered by union staff in their complaint against Graham’s husband for serious misogyny and bullying.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

This post was originally published on Canary.