Exclusive: Judge rules elected Unite exec can’t remove chair, says simple ‘majority’ in rules means two-thirds

Unite spends members’ money on legal costs to prevent removal of unpopular pro-Graham chair accused of trampling on democracy

Numerous sources within the Unite union have told Skwawkbox that a judge has ruled that the elected executive of the union cannot remove their chair, despite a clear majority of ‘exec’ members voting for his removal, after siding with general secretary Sharon Graham’s claim that he has to be removed by a two-thirds majority vote even though the rules do not specify any such requirement.

Exec members voted by 31 votes to 28 last month to remove Andy Green, an ally of Graham, whom they accuse of anti-democratic manoeuvres on behalf of Graham, but Unite’s lawyers moved to block the removal, forcing the majority of executive members to walk out and seek legal advice.

And now, after Unite burned substantial amounts of members’ money on expensive lawyers to protect a democratically-removed chair, the judge has decided that the ‘majority’ required under Unite’s rules to remove Green means a two-thirds majority, even though only the majority required to elect him was only a simple ‘50% + 1’.

So who is Andy Green? Unite insiders say that Green, who works in the docks sector, was once thought of as right-wing, but then joined the United Left grouping and was made chair on back of the United Left vote on the executive – something of a surprise as he has previously had problems getting release time from his employers for union activities – before ‘crossing the floor’ to back Graham.

Late last month, Green – who has previously moved to block votes about Israel’s genocide in Gaza – and Graham issued an ‘extraordinary’ attack on anti-genocide campaigners, despite Unite’s official, democratically-reached policy including ‘full support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’.

Unite’s rulebook requires a ‘majority’ vote to remove the executive chair, but is silent on definition of ‘majority’. Graham, Green and Unite’s expensive lawyers argued that custom and practice meant a two-thirds vote is needed to oust a chair. The majority group on the executive argued that the normal meaning of a majority is 50% plus 1 and that the election of chair is that basis so removing a chair must work in the same way. Now Unite has spent a considerable amount of money to force executive members – elected by Unite’s membership – to accept a chair in whom most clearly have no confidence.

As well as using lawyers against members’ elected representatives, Graham is also embroiled in a dispute by union staff working in the department she created for her husband to run, who allege that he and managers working under him have bullied and abused staff. At least three and by some reports four of the five women working in the department have quit and Graham and her team have been accused by furious workers of employing union-busting tactics to break up the strike, including having allies join the GMB union that represents staff working for Unite to try to vote down the strike action, an allegation that the union’s sector committee has demanded be investigated. Unite’s officers have also accused her of using anti-union legislation to stop them organising collectively.

And in a stunning development exclusively revealed by Skwawkbox, lawyers acting for Unite and Graham also confirmed Skwawkbox’s reporting that the union had destroyed evidence gathered by staff, particularly women, who had recorded the behaviour her husband, Jack Clarke, in their complaint that he was behaving abusively and misogynistically.

Clarke was appointed to his current role, after Graham became general secretary, despite being on a final warning from the union for his behaviour. The industrial action continues and threatens to spread to the whole HQ staff after more than 9/10 workers there voted in favour of strike action over the issue.

Graham has also been heavily criticised for her refusal to implement the union’s position, democratically agreed by delegates, to support the people of Palestine against Israel’s apartheid and genocide.

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