New general secretaries

New general secretaries have been announced in two unions - the Musicians' Union (MU) and airline pilots' union BALPA.

The leader of the 31,400-strong MU is John Smith, who beat his only rival to the post, Chris Hodgkin, by 4,606 votes to 3,335 in a 25% turnout. He said his first priority would be to set in train the "much-needed modernisation" of the union.

BALPA, which has 7,500 members, will be led by Jim McAuslan, who was elected unopposed. Prior to taking up the position last month he was deputy general secretary of the main civil service union, the PCS.

One of his first tasks will be to lobby for airport expansion.