| There were attempts by British Airway cabin crews, members of the
British Airlines Stewards and Stewardess Association (Bassa), to get
their union to be open about how their subs (dues) are spent. Bassa has about 9,000 members and is part of Len McCluskey's giant Unite union. Back in 2014, air hostess Karen Mills demanded to know why the Brassa branch accounts covering 2008 to 2013 showed that of a total spent of £5224,046, only £106 was formally accounted for. That was for postage, and the remaining £523,940 was "accounted" for as "sundries". Mills went to the government's Trade Union Certification Officer (Tuco), who ruled in her favour and ordered Unite to open the books. The union immediately appealed and argued, unsuccessfully, that to let members see where their subs had been spent by their elected officials would be in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights—the right to a private life. The Tuco has now delivered a final ruling. In a nutshell, Unite's case is bollocks and it has eight weeks to comply with the order. Private Eye March 2017 #1439 |
| Eye
1439's report on air stewardess Karen Mill's victory in winning the
right to inspect her trade union's accounts has led to an outpouring of
vitriol against her. Since 2014 Mrs Mills has been campaigning for ordinary members to have sight of the accounts of the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa), part of Len McCluskey's giant Unite union. Branch accounts for 2008-13 showed that of total expenditure of £524,046, just £106 was accounted for—as postage—while the rest, more than half a million quid, was down as, er, "sundries". Not unreasonably, Mrs, MIlls, and other Bassa members felt they had the right to know how their subs (dues) had been spent—not least after rumours began to circulate of high living among senior officials. In February the government's trade union certification officer (Tuco) ruled that the union had until 6 April to open the books. Cue a string of increasing unhinged emails from Bassa to its 9,000 members attacking the tenacious air hostess. The first claimed that by successfully arguing to see accounts Mrs Mills had, "dealt a major blow for ["against", shurely? Ed.] every trade unionist in the country and employers will be high-fiving with glee". In a second email, Bassa officials warned that as a result of the judgment "there is absolutely no doubt that this has and is going to be a difficult couple of weeks in our history". Why letting members see what L523,940 of their own money was spent on would be so problematic is unclear. Members were also told that whoever had left photocopies of the Eye 1439 article [above] in the crew room of Heathrow's Terminal 5 would be hunted down. The culprit would be exposed, it was claimed, via CCTV footage. How the union would have access to CCTV footage in a restricted area was not explained. The union then sent all members copies of the offending Eye article via email! (Thanks for the plug—Ed.) Elsewhere on an unofficial Bassa website, Mill's mental health was questioned. PS: Unite's policy on bullying, with an introduction by Len McCluskey, says the union has "zero tolerance of harassment, discrimination and bullying", adding that "cyber-bullying...is worse than that of other forms of bullying because of [its] remote, invisible nature". Private Eye April 2017 #1441 |