Senior RMT official suspended for saying he’d throw a party if Boris Johnson died

Lucca read trishers post of 16.50:49

trisher the RMT has been involved in a long-running dispute with the train operating companies over the role of guards on trains. To cut a long story short, two years ago the Health & Safety Executive gave the RMT qualified backing in regard to the safety concerns within the dispute.

Everyone in industrial safety circles believed that following that support the dispute would then be taken through the courts for resolution.

However the RMT have not followed that path, instead, they have engaged in a series of industrial actions with individual train operating companies that has achieved little with the exception of upsetting very many passengers.

The above has caused much division within the RMT leadership and doubtless there are those within that body who were only too glad to bring into the open what Headley had stated on his Facebook page being he has been a strong supporter of the industrial action policy

Unions love strikes

trisher the NHS being requested not to overuse PPE is deplorable and cannot be condoned by anyone, irrespective of their political allegiance. As regards Hedley and his private Facebook book page well, there are only 2 possibilities here aaren't there? Either his privacy settings weren't as secure as he thought they were or one of his "friends" was as appalled by his remarks as the rest of us are and so leaked it to the press. Sheila Oakes employed her right to freedom of speech on her Facebook page too and she was promptly sacked by her employer.

Chewbacca If an employer sacked someone for what was said on a facebook page then I think they were wrong to do so. If we are to have such restrictions placed upon us life will become very bland. I have in the past seen many posts on GN denigrating students for "No platforming" people. This is an equivalent.

Grandad1943 I am very aware of the RMT action and the support it has from women in the Union movement who see it as a safety issue which directly impacts on women travelling. If this is why the posts have become public I can forsee a huge outcry.

Apologies. I was Indeed wrong..

(Not words you often see on GN )

trisher, many employees have been dismissed from their employment because of what they have stated on social media.

Defaming other employees within the company they work for, or criticising individual members of the management team or the overall management in general are valid reasons for disciplinary action to be taken against an employee.

Happens all the time.

trisher, my feelings are that the Facebook posts by Headley were in all probability brought into the open by members of the National Executive of the RMT.

However, only time will tell on that matter

Grandad thanks for the summary of the dispute within the RMT, in the haste and pressure of the moment, it wasn't at the forefront of my thoughts.

The issue of free speech and facebook/twitter/other forms of social media communication isn't something Mr Hedley wasn't aware of. Many employees have lost their jobs because they've posted something their employer concludes brings the organisation into disrepute. I don't have the numbers, but teachers certainly have been suspended, then sacked, some appealed but still lost their jobs because they posted idiotic stuff on facebook.

trisher fyi:

The following would create grounds for an employment disciplinary:

Posting negative comments about your job, clients or employer
Sharing private company information
Expressing off-colour personal opinions which could reflect badly on your employer
Acting on behalf of the company without permission to do so

Although it might seem ridiculous that an employee could be fired over a Facebook comment or Tweet, the law in the UK upholds that misconduct on social media is taken as seriously as verbal misconduct in the workplace.

So the only thing which might apply there is the "Off colour" statement ChewbaccaI would imagine there are many members of the union who would agree with Headley, and would dispute that the post would reflect badly on the employer. I do find it difficult to understand (and if any one has legal knowledge please tell me) quite what the term "off colour" could be interpreted as.

Mentally agreeing with an outrageous statement is one thing,
But putting it out there on a public forum is another trisher
And you must see that.
If these disciplinary laws were not in place, employees could do real harm to businesses.
That’s why none of us can post any old thing we like ( no matter what it’s content) in public.

Do your own research on the subject trisher, I've done most of the legwork for you. Whether you agree with it or not is up to you but there are laws in place that can, if an employer so wishes, use in the dismissal of staff processes. But maybe the RMT will think the same way that you do and just brush the whole episode under the carpet. But they'll have to bear in mind that there is at least one member in the union who dislikes Headley's comments sufficiently to bring it all out into the open. Fingers crossed it's not a lone voice.

Whatever the procedure, I fully expect this man to be still in his job at the end of it.

Sadly M0nica so do I.

I worked in public services for over a decade and we hade to agree not to bring the service into disrepute on social media. For that reason I chose not to engage with Facebook etc until I retired and now I can say what I want.

I would go further than M0nica and Chewbacca have stated. I believe that this could be Headley's bid for greater power within the RMT.

Mick Cash the General Secretary of the RMT along with Michelle Rodgers the lay member President of the union have been under great pressure from many on the left of the General Executive Committee for their handling of the guard's dispute.

In stating what he has Headley may well have calculated that those on the right of that committee would bring into the open what he stated. In that, he has now brought forward a power battle that could (if he has his calculating correct) see the resignation of Mick Cash and the abolition of Michelle Rodgers post as president.

As Senior Assistant General Secretary of the union that would lead to Headley being appointed to the role of General Secretary unencumbered by an overseeing lay member president.

The above are just my thoughts and inclinations on the issue, but as I stated earlier in this thread there has to be far more in Headley's outrageous statements than just pure hate and misjudgment.

He has brought the RMT into disrepute.
Whether or not it was posted as an official statement or not, the fact that this was posted at all in a personal post by a person in a powerful and official position links this to the Union.
He is stupid, no other words for it.

Anyone calling other people vermin is possibly becoming stressed by being in lockdown so could be excused for such inflammatory language.
We are all under strain.

An interesting insight * Grandad*

Thanks Grandad1943, that's an interesting slant on the incident. He's taken a risk but presumably one that he's reasonably confident he'll win. Appreciate your views, thanks.

Why is not a ' hate crime'?

Callistemon I am not stressed I have used Nye Bevan's remarks before and been castigated for it. It seems to me to fit the people who choose to put profit before people and who would quite happily remove all the protections which have underpinned our society since 1945. As far as I know I am still quite entitled to that opinion and able to express it. As for those who vote for them I have said before they either believe the same things and would destroy the welfare state or they have been misled and don't recognise the real agenda of the Tory party. Dictionary definition of Vermin- people perceived as despicable and as causing problems for the rest of society.
"the vermin who ransacked her house"
POGS he didn't advocate killing Johnson, he didn't say he wished he were dead. He simply said he would party if he was. So no crime of any nature.

There's an online petition calling for the sacking of Steve Hedley if anyone wants to sign it.

Sorry trisher when you used the term vermin to describe Tory voters, you weren't paraphrasing Nye Bevan, they were your words. Own it.

There is a time for politics and there is a time to be human

True, although I think it is perfectly possible to have humanity and politics in the same room!!!

POGS he didn't advocate killing Johnson, he didn't say he wished he were dead. He simply said he would party if he was. So no crime of any nature.

May not be a crime; still obnoxious though!