Union in chaos over leadership vote
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Your support makes all the difference.One of Britain's biggest unions was in turmoil last night after the executive tried to order a re-run of an election in which the Prime Minister's favourite trade unionist was defeated.
Left-wingers stormed out of the meeting as backers of Sir Ken Jackson declared that coverage of ballot-rigging at Amicus-AEEU by The Independent had interfered in the electoral process and that there should be a fresh vote.
At a heated session of the executive, right-wing supporters of Sir Ken also claimed that a few hundred members of the union had not received voting papers. Derek Simpson, an unknown left-wing official based in Derby, was found to have won in the fourth recount of ballot papers yesterday.
Tony Blair met a group of union general secretaries last night, but Sir Ken was not among them. The fraught meeting included John Edmonds of the GMB and Bill Morris of the Transport and General Workers Union. Downing Street tried to downplay the significance of the occasion saying it was one in a series of regular meetings.
The Amicus executive will almost certainly have to go to the High Court to order a new ballot and some insiders said that it did not have the powers to do so. The sources argued that only the full executive of Amicus could sanction legal action. The organisation is made up of the old AEEU and MSF unions and the latter will have no truck with a re-run.
Close colleagues of Sir Ken advised him yesterday to draw a line under a damaging saga that has caused considerable consternation in Downing Street. One source said Sir Ken's supporters on the executive were trying to persuade him to stand again and that he was "torn" over the decision.
Most observers predicted that, in the unlikely event of a new vote, Mr Simpson's vote would increase substantially from the 406 margin announced yesterday by the Electoral Reform Society. The final count of the papers gave 89,521 votes to Mr Simpson and 89,115 to Sir Ken. The result stunned the trade union movement and one Amicus official described it as "a total disaster".
Sir Ken, 65, is the closest trade union confidant of the Prime Minister and his ballot defeat had already sent shock waves through the Government. Ministers were known to be worried about losing such a loyal union supporter at a time when a mood of militancy is growing among workers across the country.
Mr Simpson said that he hoped the executive would "see sense" and endorse his victory. Jimmy Warne, a left-winger representing the north of England on the executive and one of the six who walked out, was "disgusted" by the refusal to accept the result.
"The executive should have ratified the decision. There are no grounds for setting it aside. The members have spoken and the executive should accept that. We walked out because we didn't want to be part of that chicanery. We didn't want to give it any credence," he said. No official spokesman for the union was available for comment.
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