Unite exec says it’s being forced to take legal action by Graham regime’s assault on member democracy

Majority of members accuse Graham of smears and contempt for union rules

Last week, a majority of members of Unite’s elected executive council (exec) were forced to issue a statement condemning the union’s war on democracy, after Unite’s management stepped in to block the removal of the exec’s pro-Graham chair for which a clear majority of members had voted. So egregious was this anti-democratic move that a majority of exec members have said they will not attend any further executive meetings until the situation is corrected.

Two days later, the same exec majority had to issue a second statement correcting what they described as a ‘continual’ ‘false narrative’ being pushed by democratically deposed chair Andy Green, who was refusing to concede to democracy, and by Unite’s management, which appears determined to keep Green in place to support the problematic Graham.

And in what appears to have been an unprecedented move, the same members of the executive issued two statements on the same day – one to Unite’s staff and officers and another to members and committees, condemning the intransigence of Graham and her management after smears and ‘misleading’ claims by Green and others in an apparent attempt to tarnish those whose votes are being ignored.

Now the same majority of elected members has issued a public statement warning Unite that it is being forced to take legal action against pro-Graham chair Andy Green to force a return to union rules that make put them in charge of Unite on behalf of Unite’s membership – and that they will not abandon this action unless Green obeys democracy and rule and steps down as Chair:

Statement from the majority of the Unite Executive Council

19th March 2025

Unite members, activists, staff, and officers will have seen the emails sent yesterday (18th March 2025) by disputed Unite EC Chair Andy Green and the Unite Executive Head of Operations Sarah Carpenter]. The majority of the Unite Executive Council (EC) are deeply troubled by the content of these emails, including the inaccuracies and misrepresentations contained within them.

We will respond in due course to these particular inaccuracies and misrepresentations, but for now, we wish to set the record straight again on the most pressing issue surrounding disputed EC Chair Andy Green.

The facts are that last week, on the 10th of March 2025, Unite EC voted to remove its Chair Andy Green from his position. The vote carried 31 in favour, 28 against, and 1 abstention. This was done in accordance with rule 14.7 of Unite’s rule book, which states that the EC “will have the power to remove and replace its Chair at any time”.

Despite the vote to remove Mr Green from his position, regrettably, he has refused to step down.

The EC represents our members’ interests and has ultimate oversight for the Union. Indeed, rule 15.5 states that even the General Secretary is under the EC’s oversight and states: “The General Secretary shall be under the control of and act in accordance with the directions of the Executive Council.”

Your EC cannot have oversight of the Union if our votes are ignored and the decisions we take are not complied with in accordance with our constitutional and governance rules.

Sometimes, the decisions we take will not be those the General Secretary or others may wish us to take. However, that is our prerogative. Our obligation remains to provide effective oversight of the management of the Union on behalf of its members. We will not be prevented from undertaking our role by threats or misleading allegations. As noted, we cannot carry out our duty if our votes are ignored, and our instructions flouted.

The decision to remove Mr Green from his position was taken by the majority due to his persistent refusal to accept motions brought to the EC and his obstruction of attempts to gain greater financial oversight and accountability, particularly in relation to financial matters.

In this respect the EC majority are deeply concerned by Sarah Carpenter’s circular yesterday (18th March 2025), in which it appears an officer and staff pay increase costing more than 7 million pounds will be implemented, even though the EC meeting where it was supposed to be examined and agreed was inquorate.

Finally, despite attempts to portray it otherwise, it is the EC majority (consisting of multiple groups) who are calling for the report into alleged corruption around the Birmingham hotel to be published rather than it being repeatedly used to smear EC members who are trying to do their job. We strongly refute the suggestion that our attempts to ensure that the EC can properly perform its functions of financial oversight and control are in any way an attempt to avoid transparency in relation to any aspect or period of our Union’s affairs. The reverse is the case.

As a result of the disputed EC Chair’s refusal to stand down, the EC majority instructed solicitors to serve a ‘Letter Before Action’ notice on the disputed Chair of the Executive Council Andy Green. This sets out the basic and fundamental requirements of our Union’s rule book and invites Mr Green to respect the vote of the EC and stand aside.

If he does so, that will immediately be the end of the matter. A new chair will be elected, and the EC will return to undertake its duties on your behalf. If Mr Green does not do so, the EC will be left with no choice but to issue legal proceedings against Mr Green to compel him to respect the EC’s oversight role and our democratic vote that he stand aside.

We will only proceed with further legal action if Mr Green continues to ignore the will of the EC. We do not wish to incur the costs, time, and disruption these proceedings will inevitably cause, but we will not allow the democratic oversight and accountability of our union to be trampled on.

The EC therefore calls again upon Mr Green to honour the vote of the EC and to comply with the rule book.

Unite’s rules make clear that the ‘exec’ is the ‘government’ of the union, responsible for its policies and actions – and the union’s own official documents around elections for the executive make that perfectly clear:

Sharon Graham’s management is accused by the union’s official government of thwarting its sovereignty and waging war on Unite’s democracy – and of smearing those elected by the members to represent them.

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