23.06.2004

ASLEF: Reclaim the union

Dean Hooper looks at the latest developments in the ASLEF saga.

The report from the TUC inquiry into the now infamous barbecue at Aslef's head office makes interesting reading. It has been leaked by supporters of Blairite general secretary Shaun Brady and posted on the opposition 'True Aslef' website they run (http://www.trueaslef.com/aslefnews.htm). It paints a picture of a macho and booze culture and of a union divided into warring camps - a situation involving not only the elected officers, but those employed at head office.

The report states: "Aslef is a highly factionalised union in which there appears to be a significant degree of confusion between loyalty to the union as a whole and to its members on one hand, and loyalty to particular individuals within it on the other" (point 6). It goes on to suggest that some staff members suspected of "disloyalty" were worried about being dismissed and even losing their homes - "This became more intense after the election of the general secretary last year." The report then goes on to say that this situation made the witness statements of those involved and the "internal" evidence "highly subjective" and "wholly lacking in credibility" (point 7).
However, the authors exonerate all head office staff from any improper behaviour and criticise acting general secretary Keith Norman for suspending those employees who were at the barbecue, recommending that no action be taken against them (points 9, 22).
The events of May 27 are described in detail: "After about half an hour of verbal argument the GS physically removed the president [leftwinger Martin Samways] from the decking" (point 13). It was during this initial skirmish that Julie Atkinson, the office manager, was struck in the mouth by Samways. Although no opinion as to whether this was deliberate or accidental is offered, point 15 states: "The president's conduct was wholly unacceptable."

The report then describes the "fight" between Brady and Samways. Point 20 castigates the GS as the senior officer for allowing events to get out of hand. It states that both the GS and his assistant should have called the barbecue off after Samways had struck Atkinson. They should have then reported the matter to the EC. "In that respect both [officers] - the GS in particular - failed in their duty that night. The GS then got involved in an unseemly fight with the union's president."
The left-dominated executive committee took over six hours to decide how they were going to respond to the report. It seems they had expected it to deliver the killer blow against Brady and his ally, assistant general secretary Mick Blackburn. Instead they got a load of TUC fudge. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber is reported to have tried to strike a deal between the EC and Brady and co; and in the end both he and Aslef's EC appear to have been happy to sweep it all under the carpet instead of confronting the issues - the typical actions of well heeled union bureaucrats. It was reported in the press and on trueaslef.com that Brady, Blackburn and Samways had all been offered 12 months' salary by the EC to bugger off and keep quiet.
Brady was said to be livid that the EC had tried to "buy" his silence: "I would rather commit suicide than sell my integrity in this way," he is quoted as saying. My own sources paint a different picture, however. They say that Barber was approached with a request to negotiate five years' salary in exchange for the general secretary's departure.

As we go to press, the EC is hearing the disciplinary cases against Samways and Brady. They are widely expected to result in the removal from office of both individuals and the calling of fresh elections. The case against Blackburn has collapsed, but the EC is continuing to pursue him over allegations of improper use of his Aslef credit card and office computer.
It is rumoured that the EC itself has decided to step down en bloc and seek a fresh mandate. If this is true, then at least we have one positive decision to emerge from this mess. It is only by going to the membership, explaining their actions and seeking re-election that they can have any hope of earning the trust they have squandered.

Brady is fond of saying: "This is not about right and left. It's about right and wrong." Ironically, he is correct - though not in the way he means. Both the Blairite right wing and the left reformists have put their own career interests before those of the union. They have allowed bureaucratic rivalry to besmirch Aslef's name.

If elections are called, members can start to reclaim their union by demanding of all candidates standing for office that they will only take the equivalent of the salary of a driver employed by the train company they come from. The slogan, 'A workers' representative on a worker's wage', has never been more apt.