Press Release

Joint Statement by Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley

10 October 2008

"Press reports today paint a misleading picture of the situation in Unite and an entirely false one of our personal relationship. We wish to set the record straight.

The formation of Unite was overwhelmingly endorsed by the members of both the T&G and Amicus in a ballot last year. This year, our members again approved Unite’s new rule book by a massive majority.

In both those ballots, the members approved procedures for the leadership of the union in its initial period, including provisions for the retirement of Derek Simpson at age 66 and Tony Woodley at age 64. It is deeply regrettable that an individual member sought to challenge, outside the union’s democratic structures, these twice-endorsed provisions.

This challenge has had a destabilising effect in recent months. The special meeting of the Unite Executive Council this week resolved this situation by setting in hand an election for Amicus section general secretary to ensure the members’ original wishes are respected, and by suspending the implementation of Unite’s full rules to both allow for this election to take place and to afford time for outstanding issues relating to the complete integration of the two sections to be addressed.

On that basis we are both confident that we can move forward in unity to secure the full potential of our new trade union. In recent months, Unite has made a dramatic difference industrially and politically, achieving far more for its members than either Amicus or the T&G could have done alone. We will not allow secondary issues to divert us from building on these achievements together in the interests of our members.

We would also underline that our personal relations are far from as described in The Times. We share a warm personal friendship, holding as we do the same values and the same vision for the future of Unite.

Both of us, and Unite’s Executive Council, are totally committed to seeing the integration of Unite through to a full and final conclusion within the next six months, conscious that making Unite work to its full capacity is not only the wish of our members but also the imperative requirement of the future of the trade union movement."