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General
union GMB branded the AA Democratic union a “scab organisation” yesterday
after it was given full independent status by the Certification Office, the
governments regulatory body for unions.
by TOM MELLEN
GMB
senior organizer Paul Maloney accused the group of being a “nodding dog” for
AA bosses, noting that it had given the green light to a massive jobs cull at
the road services group.
Mr
Maloney reported that a disgruntled former GMB officer who had been passed
over for the position of regional secretary set up the breakaway AA Democratic
Union (AADU) in 2005 as part of a “personal vendetta” after the firm was
snapped up by venture capitalist CVC and Permira.
Bosses swiftly switched recognition from the GMB to the AADU and the new
management brought in by CVC and Permira proceded to throw 4,000 workers on
the scrapheap.
Mr
Maloney slammed the AADU for “being in bed with management,” but the AADU
national secretary Alistair Maclean asserted that the breakaway union was
independent and had been formed by GMB members who were “dissatisfied with
plans to break up the GMB AA division.”
Mr
Maclean claimed that the AADU has more members at AA than the GMB but Mr
Maloney pointed out that the GMB has 2,300 members at the AA compared to the
AADU membership of 1,500.
And
Mr Maloney said that the “renegade official and his cronies had spun a
cock-and-bull story” to win over recruits.
The
AADU accepts temporary workers for free and allows permanent workers to pay by
automatic deduction from their wages.
“The
AADU is not truly independent because, if it was to criticise the AA, then the
company would stop deductions at source and the union would be skint
overnight,” Mr Maloney observed.
Permira bosses and senior GMB officials held “constructive discussions” about
the AA and the role of the GMB as an independent union at a meeting in central
London yesterday.
Permira bosses said that they were “happy to confirm that it is its position
that employees can choose to be represented by whomever they choose, including
the GMB.”
GMB
and Permira have agreed to consult further and to “seek to build a
constructive dialogue.”
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