Public purse is funding trade unions
East Anglia: Anger as public purse pays out more than £750,000 towards cost of trade unions
By Paul Geater
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
3:00 PM
PUBLIC sector bodies across the region paid more than £750,000 towards trade union representation for their staff last year according to new figures.
The largest expenditure came from Suffolk County Council which spent £303,415 on supporting union officials according to the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
The smallest figure was £824 paid by Babergh council – although some authorities, including Mid Suffolk, Colchester and Tendring, did not release any figures.
Essex County Council spent £155,808 on union representatives, and Essex Police spent £129,840. Suffolk police spent £57,707.
Nationally the TPA says public bodies spent £113million on trade union activities – and 3,041 staff were employed as trade union organisers and their salaries paid by public bodies.
The Department of Work and Pensions pays for 272 full-time union employees, while the largest local authority employer is Birmingham City Council with 72 union staff on its wage bill.
Suffolk County Council insisted it had reduced the amount of money it spent on union officials by 25% over the last year.
Deputy leader Jane Storey, who is responsible for finance, said: “While we recognise the importance of working closely with unions while the organisation goes through significant change, we have to acknowledge that this is taxpayers’ money and must do everything we can to ensure it is spent appropriately.
“It’s important that we strike the right balance between meeting our legal duties to employees and managing costs.
“I feel that we’re striking the right balance at the moment.”
Ipswich Conservative MP Ben Gummer said it was not right for public bodies to pay trade unions because part of their work was political, giving financial support to the Labour Party.
He said: “It is right that they should be able to support their members, but their activities should be paid for by the subscriptions of members, not from the taxpayers.”
However Labour leader of Ipswich council David Ellesmere said the union officials had a vital role: “Their presence has probably saved much more money than it cost.”
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7 comments
Who cares whether the self-styled Tax Payer's Alliance is angry or not? They are unelected, they publish no membership figures, they are absolute nobodies. The rest of us are perfectly happy with the present situation.
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Boris
Thursday, November 1, 2012
I am okay with that - the Tories spend billions helping their wealthy 'chums' (in pension subsidies, farming subsidies to wealthy landowners, excessive tax cuts) so something for the oppressed workers is a good thing. If workers didn't have someone to look after them they would now be on £2 an hour whilst their bosses are on their yachts in the med.
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Johnthebap
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
You do realise facility time has been normal practice for half a century right? And that the main reason for it is because it's probably the single best way councils have found to avoid massive workplace problems stemming from managers' lack of connection to the shop floor? Perhaps rather than just regurgitating ridiculous hyperbole from Tory central office you could try some common sense?
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Rob R
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Employees of local authorities have a choice whether to subscribe to a union. It appears that the taxpayer does not have the same choice. If this is true then there must be still thousands of pounds to be saved by cutting waste,I doubt we have cut the tip of the iceberg as yet. If people want to swan around being a union official then let the unions pay for it.
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John W
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tories in "We hate trade unions" shock. More seriously, I wonder how well district and county councils (particularly in Southern England) would function without a national wage bargaining agreement as there would be far more skilled staff playing one employer against another - just like skilled jobs in the private sector. It would be interesting to see how well they can control costs and meet their commitments if there wasn't.
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tgtround
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
And have you ever bothered asking the Tax Dodgers' Alliance where their funding comes from? They are not the fair-minded independent campaign group your article makes them out to be.
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Origami Penguin
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
mr Gummer, let's see details of your expenses and that of your colleagues , your large salaries and your final salary pension scheme, you know the similar pension scheme as the ones you took away from public sector workers but with larger pay outs. All paid for by the rest of us.... As far as Suffolk and Essex police, my thoughts were that they did not have trade unions because they don't have the same rights as the private sector or other public sector workers to protect and they pay into the police federation out of their own pocket to do very little for them?
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equalibrium
Wednesday, October 31, 2012