Exclusive: Unite Scottish sec suspended after ‘inappropriate behaviour’ complaints from women

Irish secretary standing in for Derek Thomson as union refuses to comment on suspension of general secretary ally

Unite Scottish regional secretary Derek Thomson, considered a close ally of general secretary Sharon Graham, has been suspended by the union following complaints by at least one woman of inappropriate behaviour – with insiders saying that a a member of Graham’s team had responded to warnings about Thomson, before he was appointed to the role from his previous position of organiser, with a threat of “Prove it or else”. Graham ran Unite’s organising team before winning the general secretary position.

The suspension is described as ‘precautionary’. Unite’s Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald is standing in for Thomson during the suspension. Skwawkbox understands that police are involved, but Unite’s Scottish territorial reps were informed at first, although Graham’s chief of staff Sarah Carpenter began ringing around members of Unite’s elected executive, apparently after Skwawkbox’s press enquiry to the union.

The union’s press office was asked:

The union has suspended Derek Thompson for inappropriate behaviour towards women, with SG’s chief of staff Sarah Carpenter dealing with it, but Scottish reps have not been informed. DT is an ally of SG, whose lawyers have admitted that Unite destroyed evidence against her husband in similar complaints. He is a former organiser and Unite was warned about his record before SG  appointed him. This looks like a pattern, and certainly appalling judgment by SG.

Before Sharon Graham became Unite’s general secretary, her husband Jack Clarke was the subject of complaints from female members of staff in his previous role with the union. In December last year, the union admitted that evidence gathered by complainants against him, including recordings and transcriptions, had been destroyed.

After Graham became general secretary, Clarke was promoted – without the usual union procedures – to run the newly-created ‘Bargaining and Disputes Support Unit’ (BDSU), despite having been on a final warning after complaints of bullying and threats, and was subsequently at the centre of complaints from staff about his and his management team’s conduct, which led to a full strike.

Striking staff accused Graham and her allies of ‘strike-busting’ behaviour to try to undermine the collective action against her husband, as did the union’s national industrial sector committee (NISC) for the print and graphics sector. The general secretary of the Community union made similar accusations against Graham relating to attacks on attempts by Unite’s officers’ group to organise collectively. Nine out of ten staff across Unite’s Holborn HQ subsequently voted in favour of industrial action.

Three out of five women working in BDSU quit, with union sources saying they had complained of bullying and abuse – allegations denied by Clarke through Unite’s lawyers, who further claimed that the destroyed evidence wasn’t related to the earlier women’s complaints of abusive language but were in fact recordings of Clarke’s “extreme language and rudeness in relation to [then-]senior figures of the union”, a claim that evidence seen by Skwawkbox shows not to be true.

When given the opportunity in 2022, two years earlier, the union had failed to deny that the destroyed transcripts and recordings had shown bullying by Clarke.

Unite’s lawyers said the union cannot comment on “confidential internal processes relating to employees” and “cannot comment on any police involvement”. Derek Thomson was contacted for comment and the enquiry was referenced by Unite’s lawyers, but he did not respond.

Please remember to support Skwawkbox if you can, to help ensure it can keep running. 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 as it has to be entered by us). Alternatively, if you prefer to make a one-off or recurring donation by simple card payment, please use the form below:

Thanks for your solidarity so Skwawkbox can keep doing its job of inconveniencing the right and helping to build the left!

If you wish to republish this post for non-commercial use, you are welcome to do so, but please include the donor information above – see here for more.