In a stunning ruling, Joint General Secretary Roger Lyons has been forced to stand down with immediate effect, following a complaint by a member of amicus. The enforcement order was issued today by the independent Trade Union Certification Officer (CO), who included Lyons' Private and Confidential contract in his judgement.
14 May 2004
amicus.cc exclusive!
General Secretary Lyons forced out!
In a stunning ruling, Joint General Secretary Roger Lyons has been forced to stand down with immediate effect, following a complaint by a member of amicus. The enforcement order was issued today by the independent Trade Union Certification Officer (CO), who included Lyons' Private and Confidential contract in his judgement.
Lyons has done no work for the union for almost a year, and had a very generous secret contract that paid him his full salary (over £103,000 pa) to carry on not working until August 2007. The multi-million pound package, negotiated by Lyons, also gave him his car, phone, pension payments and any pay rises that General Secretary Derek Simpson gets in the next 3 years.
In August 2007 Lyons plans to retire on full pension as if he had worked until that date. However part of his plan involved evading an election which, by law, would have been due in January 2003. Lyons achieved this illegal evasion by manipulating his own retirement date; his aim was to try and take advantage of an exemption offered by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act. The Act normally requires General Secretaries to stand for election every 5 years; Lyons was last elected as far back as April 1997. Had he stood in 2003 there is little doubt that members would have thrown him out following the corruption scandal in the union surrounding his expense claims.
It remains to be seen if the current NEC are prepared to honour Lyons' extravagant contract given that it was the means by which Lyons broke the law. The member who made the complaint plans to turn up at his local police station with the Certification Office decision to see if Lyons can be charged with obtaining monies by deception. The amount of members' money involved in Lyons' contract is well over £500,000. The extra hit on the amicus staff, from their pension scheme, is estimated at between one and two million pounds.
amicus.cc exclusive!
General Secretary Lyons forced out!
In a stunning ruling, Joint General Secretary Roger Lyons has been forced to stand down with immediate effect, following a complaint by a member of amicus. The enforcement order was issued today by the independent Trade Union Certification Officer (CO), who included Lyons' Private and Confidential contract in his judgement.
Lyons has done no work for the union for almost a year, and had a very generous secret contract that paid him his full salary (over £103,000 pa) to carry on not working until August 2007. The multi-million pound package, negotiated by Lyons, also gave him his car, phone, pension payments and any pay rises that General Secretary Derek Simpson gets in the next 3 years.
In August 2007 Lyons plans to retire on full pension as if he had worked until that date. However part of his plan involved evading an election which, by law, would have been due in January 2003. Lyons achieved this illegal evasion by manipulating his own retirement date; his aim was to try and take advantage of an exemption offered by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act. The Act normally requires General Secretaries to stand for election every 5 years; Lyons was last elected as far back as April 1997. Had he stood in 2003 there is little doubt that members would have thrown him out following the corruption scandal in the union surrounding his expense claims.
It remains to be seen if the current NEC are prepared to honour Lyons' extravagant contract given that it was the means by which Lyons broke the law. The member who made the complaint plans to turn up at his local police station with the Certification Office decision to see if Lyons can be charged with obtaining monies by deception. The amount of members' money involved in Lyons' contract is well over £500,000. The extra hit on the amicus staff, from their pension scheme, is estimated at between one and two million pounds.
