Unite created phoney job to prevent challenge to leaders, says whistleblower

It is claimed he has never stepped foot into Unite head office in central London, is unknown to his supposed colleagues and may not have carried out any work. He has been described as a “ghost worker”.

The baggage handler withdrew from running for election on Unite’s executive council, its governing body, around the same time he was offered the role. A whistleblower claims a phoney job may have been offered to him as an incentive to withdraw, thereby ensuring council members backing the existing union leadership were not at risk of being displaced.

Unite confirmed this weekend it had launched an investigation into the allegations, but said claims of election rigging were “categorically false”. The baggage handler, who is no longer on the union payroll, also denies any wrongdoing.

Eddie Cassidy, a member of Unite’s executive council, said: “If what has been alleged in this whistleblower ­letter is true, then there are elements that I feel have to be investigated by the police.” It is an offence to give or receive bribes, with penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and unlimited fines or unlimited fines.

The allegations of possible illicit payments and election tampering at Unite have been passed to The Observer at the same time as the union, one of the Labour party’s ­biggest donors, descends into civil war.

It has failed to publish its accounts since 2020, squandered tens of millions of pounds during Len McCluskey’s leadership on an ill-thought out hotel and conference centre in Birmingham, and is being challenged over its recent spending, including confidential payouts to settle a strike on its own doorstep.

One of the most serious ­allegations, involving the baggage handler, ­happened under the leadership of Sharon Graham, who was elected in August 2021, vowing to clean up after the controversies of the previous regime.

Unite was, until recently, Britain’s biggest union, wielding huge power at the highest levels of the Labour party. Over the past decade, Unite has given more than £30m to the Labour party and was for years its biggest union backer. It has provided funding for more than 90 MPs during this parliament.

During Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, McCluskey’s allies – including his partner Karie Murphy – held key roles at the highest level of the party. McCluskey and Murphy are now understood to consider Corbyn uniquely qualified to be sole leader of the new leftwing Your Party.

When Graham was elected general secretary, one of her biggest challenges was the union’s recent history. Under the hard-left leadership of McCluskey – or red Len, as the popular press labelled him – it was hoped the union’s planned Birmingham hotel would be a moneyspinner.

Instead, it was an embarrassing money pit, with the project going tens of millions of pounds over budget and facing allegations of overcharging.

The contractor involved in the project had close links with McCluskey, arranging a private jet for him to attend the Champions League final in Madrid between his team Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in 2019.Graham, the first female leader of Unite, commissioned a series of reports into the scandal, facing what she has described as “horrendous” personal attacks over the inquiries. McCluskey’s lawyers have “categorically rejected” any wrongdoing.

Now, as the Labour party gathers for its annual conference, the links between the party and Unite face mounting scrutiny.

Graham is threatening to disaffiliate from the party, while Keir Starmer faces questions on how a union was allowed to fall into financial crisis and disarray over several years with such limited accountability. The ghost worker

In the spring of 2023, the Unite executive council election – the body responsible for the management and control of the union – was on a knife edge.

There were four candidates left and only three seats remaining to fill. The Heathrow baggage handler, a Unite union rep, announced he would like to stand.

The concern for Graham was that if he won he might oust one of her supporters.

A whistleblower complaint sent to Unite leadership by one of its own regional officers in August and seen by The Observer states: “[This person] told me that he had been offered a job in return for his withdrawal from the [executive council] election in 2023.

“[This person] may not have actually carried out any work for Unite and may be an employee for payroll purposes only, in effect a “ghost employee”.

“Several colleagues have approached me to make me aware [this person] is on Unite’s payroll. They have also told me that [this person] doesn’t actually do any work for Unite.”

A contract for the alleged ghost worker, which has been seen by The Observer, said the employee would be based at Unite’s Heathrow office. Both Unite and the baggage handler insisted this weekend that it was a part-time role.

The Observer contacted the baggage handler and he denied that he had been offered the job in exchange for withdrawing from the election.

It is understood he claims that he did do significant work on the aviation project, which involved mapping the airport and recording staff shift patterns and other information.

The whistleblower declined to comment.

The finances

In addition to calls for an investigation into the whistleblower’s claims, the certification officer – the person charged with regulating trade unions – is being urged to investigate Unite’s finances.

Raffiq Moosa, an executive council member, claims a dispute fund has been run dry by an ­increasing number of disputes, including the Birmingham bin strike. Striking workers are entitled to £70 a day in tax-free payments from the union.

From Graham’s election in August 2021 to June 2024, the union paid out £42m in strike pay, at a rate of more than £4m a quarter.

This compares with strike pay of about £1m a year under McCluskey.

The union has been involved in more than 1,400 disputes in the last three years, with a claimed success rate of 83%. The union says it has generated over £500m in increased pay for Unite members, including thousands in the public sector.

Moosa said: “Unions are always going to be in disputes, and there’s always going to be strikes. However, they have to be strategic.”

Moosa is also concerned about payouts to departing staff.

The settlement

In December last year, it was alleged that managers at a Unite research unit headed by Graham’s husband, Jack Clarke, were involved in bullying.

Unite officials said the claims against Clarke’s unit had been investigated and were found to be without foundation.

The dispute was quietly settled early this year, and a group of ­workers left their jobs with payouts. The departing staff also signed confidential settlements.

The union says it only uses non-disclosure agreements to protect members’ personal data, and never to stop claims of wrongdoing.

John Spellar, a Labour peer and a former senior union official, said: “Sharon Graham inherited a financial crisis, but some of her actions, as for example with the strike fund, seems to have made the union’s finances worse.”

Unite says that no evidence was found to support the claims, which were considered “vexatious”.

Settlement agreements were entered into with six employees who opted to leave after their training roles had come to an end and were not due to be renewed, with “standard” confidentiality agreements.

The union said allegations of misconduct were never ignored.

Unite said in response to the whistleblower claims that the worker at Heathrow was offered a job with Unite, mapping the airport and reporting to an officer in Scotland.

The project was intended to last a year, but Unite did not comment on when the job ended.

It said that Graham had no involvement in the appointment.

Unite added that it accepted that the person withdrew from an executive council election, but it was unconnected to the job and denied any election rigging or improper conduct as “categorically false”.

Officials say claims that the employee was a ghost worker were untrue.

Officials say the dispute fund fluctuates in accordance with the number of ongoing disputes, and money from general funds is now also used to support strike action.

They say the union is in good financial health, with overall reserves of about £300m.

The union said the publication of accounts has been delayed by a re-audit of the 2021 filing involving the Birmingham project.

Graham considers she faces attacks from those wishing to undermine her leadership, as she investigates the previous leadership.

Stephen Pinder, Unite legal director, said: “When Sharon Graham was elected as Unite general secretary, she promised her focus would be on improving jobs, pay and conditions.

“She also promised to clean up the union, and to leave no stone unturned in uncovering the truth. This she has done.”

Photograph by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images