Union elections loom

The two largest general unions are to hold elections for general secretary.

Unite confirmed that it will hold an election for the post of general secretary early in 2013. Len McCluskey, the incumbent general secretary, will stand as a candidate. The union’s Executive Council voted to bring forward the election from 2015 to avoid any clash with the UK general election which will also be held in that year.

The executive decided to hold an early election as “any outcome of the general election will certainly raise important issues for Unite and its membership, in particular in relation to our political strategy and our links with the Labour party, requiring strong leadership at the time. It will be no time for a vacuum such as would inevitably be the consequence of a general secretary election campaign at the same time”.

There may well be similar reasoning in the news that Paul Kenny has told the GMB Central Executive Council that he intends to step down as general secretary in late 2013.

He was appointed acting general secretary in March 2005 and elected general secretary in 2006. He was re-elected unopposed in 2010 for a further five years, but has decided to stand down before the end of his term. As with Unite, the union could have been electing a new general secretary around the time of the general election.

www.unitetheunion.org/news/uniteconfirmselectiontoberunin2013forthepostofgeneralsecretary/

http://labourlist.org/2012/12/paul-kenny-to-step-down-as-gmb-general-secretary/