RA/PM/lt
24th January 2008
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
Saga Group Ltd
The Saga Building
Enbrook Park, Folkestone
Kent, CT20 3SE
For the Attn. Mr A Goodsell, Group Chief Executive
Dear Mr Goodsell,
I note that you have had communications with a member or members of the
public in respect of the Automobile Association, and I make particular
reference to one letter you wrote on 30th November 2007, wherein you
make misleading remarks and incorrect assertions.
You mislead in so far as you claim that the AA and Saga were brought
together in a new Company, without reference to the fact that in doing
so, private equity plunged the companies jointly and independently into
over £6 billion debt, whilst bosses walked away with an estimated £300
million. The Chief Executive was paid off with an estimated £40 million,
having destroyed around 4,000 jobs within the AA and ruined the lives of
many employees.
You also state that the companies operate in separate fields but with
the benefit of shared expertise; again you failed to acknowledge that
AA/SAGA is now one company and that you gave golden handshakes to the
already well paid Directors of the Automobile Association, and AA/Saga
is now under your control.
You allege that the GMB sought pretexts to criticize the AA, and was
often erroneously referred to as representing the AA staff, and you
state this is not the case. Can you please confirm by return that you
are denying in excess of 1,600 people who work within the AA and Saga
the right to be represented by the GMB as an independent Trade Union,
contrary to the Employment Relations Act 1999, and I would seek this
confirmation by return please.
You also state that staff are represented by an organisation now called
the IDU. You failed to mention that this organisation was established
with the full co-operation and involvement of Management, if not by
Management, of which I have evidence, and the reasons for the Management
involvement are now obvious with 4,000 job losses within the AA.
Your reference to respect the decision of the vast majority of staff
within the AA is fraught with inaccuracy because Managers within the AA
are encouraged by the company to actively promote the Management
Organisation the IDU, and to continually criticize the GMB. Your
recognition of a co-operative relationship with that Organisation does
absolutely nothing to prove you believe in good industrial relations.
However, if you do respect the decision of the majority of your staff, I
would invite you to ballot the whole of the AA staff on a statement from
the GMB, together with a statement from any other organisation you care
to include, giving staff the choice on which organisation they want to
represent them. We would all then be in a position to respect the
democratic decision of the AA staff. Alternatively, you could opt to
revert back to the agreement your predecessor reached with the GMB Union
vis-à-vis; Mr Damon Buffini had agreed that the GMB does indeed
represent a substantial number of staff within the AA, and was in the
process of verifying that membership with a view to recognising the GMB
within the AA.
Indeed Mr Buffini chose the General Secretary of the TUC to verify the
GMB figures, and you, Mr Goodsell, were the individual, who unilaterally
blocked this process, but I now hope that you will take up one of the
options as outlined above.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that when the GMB
were the recognised Trade Union within the AA, the Union actively
promoted the services of the AA amongst our 750,000 members and their
families, yet the previous AA Management chose to ignore this fact,
along with ignoring a good industrial relations record.
Thanking you in anticipation of your consideration. I look forward to
hearing from you in due course.
Best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
PAUL MALONEY
NATIONAL SECRETARY
