Branch secretaries for one of the UK’s biggest unions will be on strike against their own union.
GMB branch secretaries will be striking for pension justice, fair pay and job security, supported by Unite the Union, the trade union for GMB staff.
Full time branch secretaries working for GMB, the UK’s third largest trade union, took strike action on May 29 and are striking today, June 5, called by Unite the Union, which represents GMB staff.
That will include strike action by Swindon and Wiltshire’s branch secretary, Andy Newman, effectively meaning that union activity in the county will not be happening.
A spokesperson for Unite the Union has said GMB full time branch secretaries are denied employment status by GMB, even though they work at a high level, control budgets and manage other people.
In particular, Unite’s spokesperson says, GMB branch secretaries are excluded from GMB’s “gold-plated final salary pension scheme”, and are instead enrolled in the government’s NEST pension scheme, which is the statutory bare minimum.
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The spokesperson continued by saying that GMB full time branch secretaries also lack job security, as GMB insists that the Regional office can close their branch, and throw them out of office at any time.
Alex Mitchell, spokesperson for the strikers said: “These full-time GMB branch secretaries, tell me that their employer takes them for fools, denying them the respect that they are due as experienced and highly expert trade union officials.
“It is outrageous that GMB locks them out of the final salary pension scheme, even though these individuals work full time for GMB, and have done for many years.
“Unite members working as full-time branch secretaries for GMB have been trying to negotiate a settlement to this dispute for over a year behind closed doors, but are being met with a stone wall, they therefore feel that they have no alternative other than to take industrial action themselves.
“GMB must stop this disgraceful practice of a two tier workforce, and to acknowledge full time branch secretaries as employees, with secure status, a fair wage, and a decent pension.”
GMB was approached for comment but did not respond. The union defines itself as a membership-based organisation that campaigns for and protects members’ rights at work, with a history stretching back into the nineteenth century.
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