Brendan Ogle takes union to Workplace Relations Commission for victimisation after illness and treatment after making protected disclosure
Irish union legend Brendan Ogle has begun tribunal action against Unite over its ‘disgusting’ abuse following his recovery from advanced cancer – and for alleged ‘mistreatment and penalisation’ after he made a whistleblower’s ‘protected disclosure’ about the union’s adherence to covid protocols at the height of the pandemic.
The union’s sidelining of Ogle on his return to work triggered outrage among grassroots members, politicians and community groups – anger so serious that an entire sector branch has threatened to disaffiliate entirely from Unite, the well-known ‘Right2Water’ campaign said it will no longer work with Unite, Unite’s Community section in Ireland condemned the ‘injustice inflicted’ on him and members picketed general secretary Sharon Graham’s long-delayed visit to Dublin last month.
Now Mr Ogle has lodged a complaint with the Workplace Relations Commission – Ireland’s binding statutory body under its Workplace Relations Act – over the union’s mistreatment.
Skwawkbox has reported extensively on Unite’s conduct toward Ogle and approached the union for comment, but rather than respond to the complaints, Unite threatened legal action against Skwawkbox for reporting on them. Skwawkbox stood by its reporting. Unite’s Irish office did not respond to press enquiries about Mr Ogle’s complaint.
After Ogle’s wife publicly complained about the union ‘freezing out’ her husband and sidelining him to an office miles away from his pre-cancer base in an effective demotion, a smear campaign involving anonymous accounts started against her, even though she had just been thanked by Sharon Graham for serving as a union rep. It remains to be seen whether a similar attempt to discredit Mr Ogle will occur now.
SKWAWKBOX needs your help. The site is provided free of charge but depends on the support of its readers to be viable. If you’d like to help it keep revealing the news as it is and not what the Establishment wants you to hear – and can afford to without hardship – please click here to arrange a one-off or modest monthly donation via PayPal or here to set up a monthly donation via GoCardless (SKWAWKBOX will contact you to confirm the GoCardless amount). Thanks for your solidarity so SKWAWKBOX can keep doing its job.
If you wish to republish this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so – see here for more.