Nothing's too good for the workers representatives

[Albus]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4887222/Union-boss-399-a-night-hotel-suite.html

Union boss' £399-a-night hotel suite

The leader of the UK's largest trade union has been caught using a luxury hotel suite to save a 35-minute journey home from work.

Derek Simpson, 64, the joint leader of Unite, has spent several nights at the five-star Waldorf Hilton hotel in London - 600 yards from his office.

Mr Simpson recently spent four nights in one of the hotel's King Hilton suites, according to the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

The union has admitted that Mr Simpson, a close political ally of the Prime Minister, used the hotel.

It told the Mail on Sunday that its performance would be undermined if "the union prioritised cheapness of accommodation above appropriate facilities and location".

It comes at a critical time for Mr Simpson. Members of Unite will vote next week on whether he should win re-election as leader of the Amicus half of the union.

Mr Simpson has been heavily critical of "fat-cat" bankers, such as Sir Fred Goodwin, the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive.

In a statement Unite told the Mail on Sunday: "Mr Simpson did stay at the Waldorf Hilton hotel on the nights mentioned as this was operationally appropriate for his commitments at the time.

"He is the joint leader of a multi-million-pound organisation, in which capacity he represents our members in dealings with employers of all sizes, including leaders of global companies as well as government.

"It would be undermining to his ability to deliver for those members if the union prioritised cheapness of accommodation above appropriate facilities and location as necessary for the particular event."

[LeftishBrit]

1. Seems to all originate from the Mail on Sunday; any more reliable source?

[Albus]

2. Well the Union don't seem to be denying it do they?

This from the Hate Mail article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158150/Trade-union-chief-used-399-night-Waldorf-suite-save-35-minute-journey-home.html


When The Mail on Sunday initially contacted the union to ask how often Mr Simpson stayed at the Waldorf, and how much it cost, a spokeswoman said in a statement: 'The union does not consider that you are entitled to this information. Mr Simpson stays at hotels as and when necessary for him to carry out his work.'

When The Mail on Sunday then said it had established that he stayed in a King Hilton suite for four nights at the end of January, the union issued a fresh statement.

It said: 'Mr Simpson did stay at the Waldorf Hilton hotel on the nights mentioned as this was operationally appropriate for his commitments at the time.

'He is the joint leader of a multi-million-pound organisation, in which capacity he represents our members in dealings with employers of all sizes, including leaders of global companies as well as government.

'It would be undermining to his ability to deliver for those members if the union prioritised cheapness of accommodation above appropriate facilities and location as necessary for the particular event.'

[non sociopath skin]

3. Our friend Albus aka Bulldog goes with the standard Tory Party line on trade unions ...

... as does the Mail, of course.

So, of course, what the Good Book says must be true.

Clawing back Sir Fred's pension ... now that's a different forelock-touching matter, yer worship ...

http://freebritannia.6.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=11591&sid=c7ea391a8b46f76eadd5c2125d913583

:evilgrin:

The Skin

[Albus]

4. Oh now I see who you mean.

You think I'm the handsome, intelligent, erudite, articulate Bulldog of Freebritannia fame don't you.

Well I can see how you'd come to that conclusion Sparty.

A mistake anyone could make.

;-)

[non sociopath skin]

5. Grin

:evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

Free Britannia's looking a little woebegone these days, comrade.

Has Obergruppenfuhrer Bestbear frightened everyone off?

The Skin

[Albus]

6. must be the recession

[Albus]

7. Interesting take on this - Union Leader Victim of Smear Campaign

http://www.iaindale.blogspot.com/

Guido rather misses the point with his reporting of Derek Simpson's £400 a night stays at the Waldorf Astoria. Yes, it's great evidence of union leaders with their snouts in the trough - and Simpson has got a bigger snout than most. When I was doing the BBC paper review last night, my colleague Linda Kennedy chose this as one of her stories. She treated it all as a bit of a joke and poked fun at Simpson for his expensive tastes. Neither she nor Guido have questioned why this story has appeared on the Mail on Sunday's front page today.

The reason is that Simpson is up for re-election as the leader of the Unite union, and has two people running against him. The story in the Mail is a classic smear campaign, designed to damage his chances of re-election. And no one should be naive enough to believe that the Mail discovered Simpson's overnight stays without a little "help". I will leave it to you to decide who might have helped them. It's a classic example of spin and dirty tricks. Some things in union politics never change.

[matthewcain]

8. I've left the union in response

I was so angry at this story that I left the union in protest. Whether or not it's a smear story it's damaged the ability of the union to represent others to the Labour party, in Whitehall, to bosses or even in the media. Still, I'd rather have known than not.

Here's my story: http://blog.matthewcain.co.uk/ive-left-unite-the-union/

[Albus]

9. Intersting take, thanks for posting that link.

Isn't there an alternative union to UNITE you could join?

Seems to me that whenever an organisation gets too big, be it a bank, government or federation (EU, USA, USSR) the people at the top become detached and distant from it's customers, shareholders, members staff or citizens, and usually become self serving and greedy.

Human nature I suppose.

Four legs good, two legs better & all that.