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An independent investigator is to be appointed today after allegations that a union ally of the chancellor, Gordon Brown, won a rigged ballot and breached election rules. Supporters of Kevin Curran, the general secretary of the big Labour party-affiliated GMB union, are accused of diverting potentially thousands of papers to “safe houses“ to cast votes in the names of dead and lapsed members. A GMB spokesman said the union leader was the victim of a smear campaign and predicted the allegations, made by internal critics, would prove to be unfounded. GMB in-fighting is destabilising the 650, 000-strong union and Mr Curran is locked in a bitter struggle with some of its powerful regional secretaries and factions as he introduces cuts, including lower pensions for the union’s own workers, to tackle a financial crisis. Mr Curran, then boss of the union’s northern region, comfortably beat the London GMB chief, Paul Kenny, in last year’s ballot and, despite being favoured by Downing Street in that battle, has proved a thorn in the government’s side. A vocal critic of the Iraq war and privatisation of public services, he has since allied himself with the chancellor rather than the prime minister and is identified with the leftwing “awkward squad“ of union leaders. The GMB’s general purposes committee will finalise the inquiry’s terms and choose the investigator, possibly the former bar chairman Matthias Kelly QC, who earlier this year investigated the Aslef train drivers’ union, today. Mr Curran denies breaching strict GMB non-campaigning rules in last year’s election by allegedly asking Lancashire secretary Gary Jones to deliver votes in the north-west region. Affidavits have also been flying in Lancashire over allegations that Mr Curran tried to settle an employment tribunal sex discrimination case brought by an employee against the region’s officials to prevent balloting accusations being aired publicly. The GMB was required to re-run a 2003 election for deputy general secretary after the contest was found to break anti-age discrimination rules; both contests were won by Debbie Coulter, now a member of the Labour party’s ruling national executive committee. The GMB president, Mary Turner, described the allegations against Mr Curran and election issues as “serious matters“ in an internal statement. “The issues in question follow allegations of breaches of union rules in the 2003 elections of general secretary and deputy general secretary and also in the 2004 deputy general secretary election, “ Ms Turner told the GMB’s central executive council. “Allegations which, if founded, would open the union to action under the Labour Relations Act. Furthermore evidence already given under oath at the tribunal alleges illegal acts have been committed during the course of the tribunal. “ A GMB spokesman said: “Kevin strongly refutes any allegation of electioneering. In terms of ballot papers, the whole ballot was conducted by ERBS [Electoral Reform Balloting Services] so it would be absurd to suggest that he could have any influence over where the votes were delivered. “
Kevin Curran StatementKevin Curran, General Secretary of the GMB has issued the following statement following allegations in the press today: “I welcome the opportunity to throw open the GMB to scrutiny. I strongly refute all allegations about my conduct, which I regard as defamatory and scurrilous. I hope this will be a fully independent inquiry, as I myself have suggested, the first in the union’s history. “GMB members have the right to expect an efficient, modern, democratic union that represents them in the workplace. Their union should not be a platform for personal malice, or a gravy train. They elected me fairly, by a 2 to 1 majority of more than 30, 000 votes, with a mandate to reform and modernise the union’s antiquated structures, which currently eat up 70p in every £1 of members’ contributions. As a result of action taken since I became General Secretary, the union’s troubled finances will at last be on a stable footing by the end of this year. But after two years as General Secretary I have been prevented from structural reform by opponents of change. “There is a small group of powerful vested interests within the GMB who are unwilling to accept the democratic decision that GMB members made in the General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary elections in April 2003 and March 2004. They have attempted to impugn my integrity and have actively sought to undermine my democratic mandate. “In relation to the allegations in today’s press, GMB members will wonder why certain individuals have ignored the GMB rule book, which has a clear and open process for any individual who wishes to complain about election procedures. “Any allegations brought to the attention of the union’s Executive would have been properly investigated. But these procedures have not been used. Instead, nearly two years after my election, malicious allegations have been anonymously leaked to the media. “In clearing my name I will expose those who seek to halt change in the GMB by attacking its elected leadership. ” - Ends - For further information, contact Mark Bennett on 020 8971 4224 or mobile no 07967 273118. |