AS a former trade union activist of many years it was with more than a little degree of scepticism that I read the piece from Stephen Smellie,…
I would ask Mr Smellie if, given funding of Scotland in Union comes from figures within the British establishment, including friends of royal family members, assorted multi-millionaires, landowners, asset managers and well known figures within the Edinburgh financial industry, is it not rather unusual for a full-time official of a trade union to be a director of such an organisation?
Should Mr Smellie wish to check out where this information came from I would refer him to the excellent article on the subject of Scotland in Union’s funding written by Martin Hannan in The National of April 28 2018. When I listened to Johanna Baxter being interviewed on Radio Scotland last Friday she attempted to defend Unison’s position on the pay offer by pointing to the source of the funding for it. My own experience as a former trade union activist during pay negotiations was always to be more concerned about the amount that was going to end up in our members’ pockets and not where the employer was going to find it from to put it there.
Three days later the actions of Unison were the subject of an Early Day Motion to the UK Parliament which was raised by. On the same day I took it upon myself as an SNP-supporting trade unionist to speak to the late Bill Speirs, then deputy secretary of the STUC, to make my own views known on the matter. It is fair to say that he was not impressed by what the political committee of Unison was trying to do.
Stephen Smellie concluded his article by suggesting that The National and independence supporters need to do better by apologising to Johanna Baxter and supporting low-paid council workers.
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