GMB union accused of silencing staff who complain of abuse in workplace

A trade union publicly opposed to gagging orders has been using them against its own staff who raise complaints about bullying and discrimination.

The GMB called for a ban on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) at its congress last year – particularly around cases of sexual harassment and discrimination.

The agreements include ‘confidentiality clauses’ which prohibit the employee from discussing their claims or speaking negatively about the GMB – the same as an NDA does.

Among the cases are women who claimed sex discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation.

GMB’s general secretary Gary Smith is under fire over comments he made in a two-hour meeting to a woman who had made an complaint of sexual harassment to the union. She too signed an NDA-style agreement.

Some of the women who have signed gagging orders said they were also accused of wrongdoing themselves after lodging grievances about workplace practices.

In one case, a former female worker in Scotland was paid more than £20,000 to drop an employment tribunal and never discuss her concerns again.

She had originally lodged a grievance for sex discrimination and bullying.

The woman said: “It is one of the worst experiences I have had in my life and I am still terrified that they will come after me if I speak out about what happened.

“As far as I’m concerned I had to sign an Non Disclosure Agreement – it’s the same as a confidentiality clause.

“The whole thing is wrong. A trade union shouldn’t behave this way.”

He told the woman that he was not going to allow anyone to put “a wrecking ball” through his union.

He told her they had bigger lawyers than her and that she had “put a gun on the table” by lodging a complaint with an employment tribunal.

He also admitted during the two-hour meeting, the entire audio of which the Sunday Mail has, that he believed she had indeed been abused by a “scumbag”.

She was later sacked over claims of sexual harassment and bullying, which she denies.

Since Smith’s comments were made public the trade union has said it is considering legal action over the secret tapes and even emailed Labour MPs to say the comments were “highly misleading and conversations have been taken out of context”.

COMMENT

Relations between trade unions and their own employees are a can of worms which has exponentially grown into a nest of vipers, writes Bill Heaney.

Poison oozes out from under the desks when tribunal decisions are made and settlements come to the fore in regard to personal conduct at work. Some MPs themselves use Non Disclosure Agreements when staff resign or are dismissed. Parliaments are not a happy place to work.

Sexual harassment claims and counter claims are a magnet for the media and that is why employers from local councils to MPs and parliamentarians, who are responsible for the hire, pay and working conditions of their own staff, are terrified of the bad publicity (and the unconscionable legal costs) these cases bring with them.

We have had more than our fair share of them around here over a long number of years. Fall-outs which should have take five minutes to sort out in an office can take five years to sort out in the courts.

One recent case of victimisation and discrimination could end up costing West Dunbartonshire Council an almighty £1 million. Yes, £1 million for some thoughtlessness, arrogance, jealousy and a few throwaway words that genuinely hurt.  No wonder our council is skint.

During the Second World War, the government recognised how dangerous it was for people to speak out of turn.

Posters were everywhere telling the public to mind their mouths. Careless words cost lives. The enemy was never far away.

So far as we know, no one has died in this most recent bitter Civvy Street war of words which includes insults written down and spat out even across  the chambers of Westminster, Holyrood and even Church Street, where it was reported recently that one such spat had spilled out into the corridor and almost came to fisticuffs.

Many people believe that the recently passed hate crime laws in Scotland and England are over the top and indeed a very real threat to Freedom of Speech, which should be treasured in any democracy but sadly is not here in Dumbarton.

The advice from here is as old as Methuselah himself/herself. Look before you leap, think before you speak – and be kind for God’s sake.