Tom Hardacre, head of construction at Amicus, could be ousted from the union over a wage agreement in the electrical sector.
The Amicus (Unite) national officer faces a motion of no confidence in his leadership put by officials of the London branch, the largest of the union.
The branch officials are said to be angry at a decision to accept the Joint Industry Board wage agreement of a 13.5% rise over three years. At one stage the pay dispute had threatened to lead to walkouts across the country.
Stewards voted 8-6 in favour of accepting the wage rise in September, even though workers rejected it in a national ballot in July.
Hardacre said he understood a motion of no confidence had been tabled by the London branch, but that nobody had notified him of the decision officially.
He said: “I expected a fall out after the shop stewards’ decision. People look for someone to lay the blame on, and I appear to be the one.”
People look for someone to lay the blame on, and I seem to be the one
Amicus official Tom Hardacre
The London branch is also understood to be claiming that four of the stewards who voted on the wage agreement were not elected officials, and were, therefore, ineligible to vote.
Hardacre rejected these claims. He said: “There were two executive councillors there and nobody raised complaints or issues about the process that was conducted. Everyone who took part in that process was a shop steward.
“If people are saying that is not the case, they have to come up with evidence.”
Hardacre was elected national construction officer in 2005. He intends to continue in his position in spite of the no confidence motion.
He said: “I have no intention whatsoever of taking redundancy. I intend to stay on until I retire.”
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