After more than two years‘ suspension, employer still dragging out process against Paul Holmes – and now postpones conclusion without even preparing a press statement about why it has done so
Kirklees council has again dragged out the suspension of Unison president Paul Holmes, delaying a meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning to conclude its disciplinary process – apparently without even thinking ahead far enough to have a press statement ready about the reason for the delay.
Holmes’s supporters have long claimed that the left-winger – who enjoys mass grassroots support, would have won Unison’s general secretary election had other left candidates not divided the vote and was elected as the union’s president last summer – is the victim of a coordinated move between the Unison right and the Labour right on Kirklees council to sideline him from reforming the union.
Neither the union nor the council ever publicly gave any reasons for their relative suspensions. Unison’s management even banned branches from supporting the union’s own president.
But the alleged coalition started to wobble when Unison ended its own suspension of Holmes last November – though it didn’t inform him of the fact for another month – and last week a senior Unison official apologised unconditionally for defaming Holmes in comments she had made.
So Holmes’s supporters were confident that the Kirklees suspension would be lifted tomorrow morning when the disciplinary panel was due to announce the outcome of its extraordinarily-long process – but now that has been delayed for an as-yet unknown period after the council suddenly pulled the meeting, apparently without giving those involved any explanation.
Skwawkbox contacted the Kirklees Council press office, expecting that council leader Shabir Pandor would at least have a ‘line for the press’ ready about the decision to prolong the suspension of the president of the country’s largest union after more than two years.
But none was ready. The press spokesperson said she was unable to say anything about it and Skwawkbox was asked to send an enquiry by email, but without any promise of how quickly a reply would come or whether one would come at all.
So the following has been sent to the council:
As just discussed, please advise:
1. why the conclusion of the disciplinary against Paul Holmes has again been delayed
2. why the council has taken more than two years to reach its conclusion and now that it’s supposedly ready has pulled it at the last minute
3. why the meeting to conclude a disciplinary against the president of the UK’s biggest union has been pulled without the council having a line ready for the press on why
4. why the council needed more than two years to complete its process and months for the actual hearings, keeping the Unison president suspended all that time
The story will be going to publication imminently so please respond by return.
Any answer received will be added here.
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All those involved at Kirklees Council should summarily dismissed. What a disgrace.
Can someone answer a simple question, if a council or union is this corrupt who or what holds them to account
Where is the risk to their future and freedom, the Moral Hazard for their actions
I’m only 62 and I’m fucked if I have a scooby doo
They are all at it as far as I can see and they are all getting away with daylight robbery
From baby trump to Temporary Embarrassment to Wee Jimmy Krankie
@doug
It’s as if you have no real discernable choice…
Looking back through recent history shows similar choices available.
It’s top down only.
I guess that is why “The War On……” is so very, very specific Doug. So Corbyn was up against 80% Neo-labour Party Thatcherite Parasite TORIES, he had not much room to move until he stepped into Nr10 and could handle things at a slightly deeper level Alas the sooner The TORY SCUM have their hands on all it will look like a feeding frenzy for Greedmongers, Fearmongers, Hatemongers, Warmongers, etc like a Pulsating Blob of Venomous Snakes!
Doug
Paul can and should take his employer to an Employment Tribunal for Discrimination on the grounds of Trade Union Activity. He should also make a personal injuries claim to the court if he has suffered mentally- depression and/or anxiety because of the length of time he has been suspended.
Unison should be taken to task by the Branches at Annual Conference. Paul can also make a complaint about Unison to the Certification Officer.
I hope he does so right away and is successful – what has happened to him is a total disgrace and has exposed the despicable collusion between the Unions right wing leadership and the employer. Paul’s case makes it clear that there are no depths to which Unison will not sink in order to silence any Left voices.
Trade union tops (Barons) have long and deep friendships withe bosses. They love ermine, monarchies, and the forces. Bastards, the whole dung heap of antiworking class . The culture of corruption will turn and eat it’s self. That’s a start, brothers and sisters.
Not all Unions are like that Wobbly- most really make a difference and fight hard to improve the working conditions and well being of members but unfortunately a few are.
Every improvement to the lives of workers over the years has been fought for and won by unions – without them we would be in a far worse state than we are now.
Not the Peace and Justice party it has to be The Socialist Party to establish clear Red Water between us and them, we live in a two Party system, everything has to be a binary choice, KISS
So in the immortal words of Maximus Peake, if your not a Socialist then your a Tory
On another matter, fine performance from M.P.. in Anne and for the record football supporters were treated like scum in the 70’s and 80’s, Hillsborough was inevitable and if it had not been Sheffield it would have been Manchester, two worst police forces in the country
KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid?
How many in Kirklees council have clear defined connections to Labour hierarchy or their minions?
Excellent point NVLA- perhaps Skwawkbox could check it out and do an article on whose who on the Council.
I looked up what I could and see Labour has an overall majority on the Council. which makes Paul’s treatment even more appalling. I would call on members in Kirklees to down tools during the May elections unless Paul is reinstated and compensated for what Dave Putson correctly refers to below as the 2 years of hell he has been put through.
There is nothing in the report about individual members of Unison – as to whether
any members made a formal request about the situation.
Apart from Holmes supporters – one would think that those who accused him of
bullying etc would wish to know the conclusion of the Unions investigations!
If I had accused someone of bad behaviour towards myself – I would wish to
asks the same questions put by Skawkie!
Ah, Kirklees have, now that there has been an unconditional apology given to Paul, have to come up with an arse covering excuse for this two years of hell they have put him thru erroneously. Further, they have to see how they can cover off the necessary investigation that should follow to find out just who and why the people responsible made a woman lie about him, and then why she felt sufficiently “safe” and withdrew the accusations stating her comments / accusations weren’t true. This matter is set to rumble on for a few more years and the compensation against these parties should be huge, unless they find a way of hiding the parties responsible and their motivations.
dave – It is worth noting that the apology letter wasn’t sent recently it was dated 07/05/2021 (7mths ago) which in the absence of any further information makes it rather difficult to see the context and how it fits into this seemingly never ending saga.
Meddling from Southside or just servile morons trying to earn brownie points from their New New Labour masters in London? If it’s the former, so much for Starmer’s campaign promise to democratise local govt.
Starmer today, having the audacity to call Johnson “a liar”. Proving that old adage: as the political differences between the two parties narrow, the more personal politics gets.
Aaron Bastani is right pointing out we’re back to political theatre of the trivial, in place of serious political choices we had under Corbyn. Why doesn’t Labour go after Johnson over the ‘contracts for cronies’ with the same vigour? Could it be Labour want to attract the same corporate donors and feed from the same troughs?
“so much for Starmer’s campaign promise to democratise local govt…..”
Was that one of his 10 Pledges? Obviously it matters not at all. Keir Rodney Starmer is an abject liar….
BUT….
“REPORT ON THE GOVERNABILITY
OF DEMOCRACIES TO THE
TRILATERAL COMMISSION……..” The Crisis of Democracy
CONCLUSION: Keir Starmer’s total dishonesty is no more an issue for continued democracy than the trilateral commissions’s very existence (where Keir Rodney Starmer is a member of them or not).
We’re only “governable” by them when we let them f””k-up our Democracy
Could you repost your link,the current one doesn’t go anywhere
apologies: the trilateral commission’s link to their own “crisis of democracy” report doesn’t work. Please access it through Paul Knaggs excellent article instead. This billionaires pressure group is more dangerous than any fascist campaign group known to man.
Thank you.
steveH – you can access the full report here via archive org
too (I believe). 😀
qwertboi – Thanks,
qwertboi – It is unfortunate that the document you have linked to is nigh on ½ a century old.
A Downing Street garden party nearly two years ago….Labour really focusing on the stuff people’s lives are most affected by.
If around 100 civil servants attended, why wasn’t it news then? like when it was when actually relevant. Did the press suffer collective amnesia? Got to wonder why the BBC are unloading like this against Johnson now with reheated ‘old news’. Tonight’s news showing coffins etc was the sort of hit piece they use to pull on Corbyn.
Yes SteveH “the document you have linked to is nigh on ½ a century old.”
But – UNLIKE respiratory viruses, Trilateral Commission reports do NOT become less dangerous the longer they have been around……
Andy,
I’m wondering whether the MSM (the mouthpiece of the elites) are trying to bring about Johnson’s downfall by any means necessary (in this case with OLD news) in order that a more Vaccine Passport-friendly PM can be installed in his stead, either from within the Tory party or, more likely, via a general election.
All the more reason to pray Starmer gets the bum’s rush after the next by-election!
Sadly – The above link “The Crisis of Democracy” won’t open for me.
Sorry, johnsco1….. it seems that every version of it online has ‘difficulties’ opening (I wonder why?). The archive.org version tho’ ALWAYS works and shows it in all its horrific and offensive detail.
On another note – further evidence smarmerite labour are propping up THE most corrupt government in history by further impoverishing the poorest and most vulnerable…
https://twitter.com/affleckquine/status/1480830059757850624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1480830059757850624%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fvoxpoliticalonline.com%2F
Toffee – Yes Right Wing Labour (a) lack the political acumen and (b) the political courage to fight for the poor?
There are two welfare states, ours, the working class one which is deliberately meagre and is stigmatised plus is under attack, and the upper class welfare state which is luxurious and flourishes.
In the upper class welfare state the rich and better off are subsidised to the hilt on practically everything with tax reliefs and concessions with for example big business getting £97b a year which is the equivalent of £3,500 per household (Chackraborty) so they perhaps do everything to avoid standing on their own two feet?
We need to counter the dominant Right Wing Narrative on Welfare.
Q – A good piece on the Trilateral Commission (though too long) and the Left want MORE democracy, with the public ownership of banks, Mail, rail. Water, utilities, airports & BA we want communities to have a say, with buses (ideally free) run and owned by democratic councils and we could have elected bus users councils plus bring schools back under council control and again give communities a say and we could have elected school governers, etc, etc.
Left wing democratic socialism should be grassroots, bottom up and participatory – WITH citizens.
Whist Right Wing Labour are top paternalists who take the power for themselves – FOR citizens.
And Oh as for Kirklees them goal posts there must be as dizzy as hell what with all that moving.
Solidarity with Paul Holmes.
Toffee, here is the link that shows who voted against it. It includes Corbyn. https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1190#noes
OK – Thanks for the link.
I got it to open..
It is a powerful article.
It should be widely distributed.
SKWAWKBOX …. You may have featured this Labour Heartlands feature and I may have missed it..
Perhaps you should feature it up-front in a headline article.
Lost in this “Kirklees Council” feature it may not get the widespread distribution that it deserves.
Onwards and upwards !!
Good article on Novara Media about the tactics of the new openly Far Right PA, led by a lumpen Ex-BNP officer.
But the Left needs to organise to counter the approach of these barbarians.
Of course capital won’t be too concerned as they have three major Neo-Liberal capitalist party’s signed up – Tories, Right Wing Labour and Lib Dem.
But they now have a fall back and reserve as someone once said “Fascism is the emergency committee of capitalism.”
Of course PA are the USEFUL IDIOTS of the rich and powerful who attempt to divide diverse working people and thus help the rich and powerful.
Perhaps if we can get a new Left Wing Democratic Socialist Party then they and other Left groups need to organise walking groups, cycling groups, concerts, reading groups when able etc etc learning from the old socialists from the past.
Tragically most people don’t know their history, just read a cracking book ‘Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration into Britain’ and reading now ‘The Rich: A 2,000 Year History’ John Kampener.
Yet more political dummies to deal with.
Diverse working people of the World Unite!
@qwertboi
Interesting that you posted about the TC. They were mentioned in video I watched yesterday. Very valuable history lesson.
I’d post a link but this will disappear if I do…
Search utoob for MTP 015: 1938 Appeasement – THE TRUE STORY (apologies for caps, copy paste)
Crucial part is from 34:18 onward.
excellent video NVLA. Thanks. I’ll take it to bed with me shortly to watch properly…
FWIW searching the words you provided ‘MTP 015: 1938 Appeasement – THE TRUE STORY’ (or for any yootube product) on firefox lets me view it on forefox without going to you.t.ube and being violated by google cookies and tracking… yes google cookies are loaded onto my machine, but it doesn’t get to find out anything else about me as a ‘viewer’. EVERYONE should download and make mozila Firefox their default web browser and access any and all you.t.ube products without needing to go to their site and thereby giving google what they want (your data).5
ITs nice to see so many commentators posting links to just how much damage has been done to the working-class across the UK by organisations that are basically fascists under a neo liberal alliance including the Labour party who are in line for their “turn” at government for the few…No one can be in any doubt that the Labour party are bought and paid for and willingly supported by the majority of the members.I persume that the handfull of Labour mps that voted against the welfare bill will be looking for retirement in the next general election as the knight will clean house as he did with Corbyn who again as a Labour party member and independent showed the way a few have a moral conscience and responsibilities for the vulnerable.Very disappointing but whos suprised.?
My plea above – For wide distribution – is for the Paul Knaggs (Labour Heartlands) version.
This is not out of date as it specifically puts in context Starm-Trooper’s role in all this filthy business.
Britain’s ‘honours’ system is outdated, wrapped in a past imperial mindset and colonial language that is incapable of being reformed and decolonised. How appropriate that such a dishonest ‘honours’ system awards the country’s largest war criminal, Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, its most heartfelt admiration.
Why Tony Blair is just the right person to get Britain’s top honour
Morning star…Why we need a new party….interesting and leaves the ball in Jeremy Corbyns court although adds that they could understand after the years of attacks on him and his socialist principles they could understand if he didn’t want to lead a new party…but they put up a convincing argument why he should take the challenge.
Temporary Forensic Embarrassment
Will he call for Baby Trump to resign
Red Tory Blue Tory
Or
Will he call him a liar
BREAKING NEWS
KEIR STARMER CALLS ON BORIS JOHNSON TO RESIGN at PMQs
SteveH
Forensic my arse
Doug – Your own concerns about your arse are probably best kept to yourself.
“ Please Sir, will you resign at PMQs”
Is there really any point stevieh, if you hardly differs with the PM on any important issues (most notably, Boris Johnson’s mega-hard brexit)?
qwertboi – Yet more silly nonsense, is that really the best you can manage.
“is that really the best you can manage….”
It is. It’s actually very, very, very, very incisive…..
MEGA Hard Brexit that benefits no-one except the WEF, trilateral commission and a few miscelaneous billionaires.
qwertboi – Oh FFS grow up get a grip of yourself. The fact is only alternative to Boris’s Brexit was a no Brexit deal. Are you really trying to claim that a no deal Brexit would have been a better outcome. 🙄
“Are you really trying to claim that a no deal Brexit would have been a better outcome. …”
No. I’m stating that the mega-hard or no deal brexit we ended up being subjected toIS ENTIRELY down to the divisive reprobate called Keir Rodney Starmer.
If he hadn’t been working so hard for Klaus Schwab and the TriCom billionaires against Jeremy, we would have had a mighty fine (or at least better) brexit that didn’t break the UK and endanger our economy.1.
qwertboi – Not for the first time you are deluding yourself.
Ask if he got the email from his private secretary