URTU in affiliation row over Scottish congress
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• A wrangle between the United Road Transport Union and the Scottish Trades Union Congress spilt over to the congress's annual conference this week as the union protested against its treatment by the union body.
But demands by a dozen URTU personnel outside the conference that the commercial vehicle drivers' union should be allowed to affiliate were rejected by the Scottish TUC, which says it is still waiting for infor.
illation from the union before it can process its application.
The dispute surrounds an allegation by URTU that since it applied for affiliation last November the Transport and General Workers Union has blocked its application because it fears losing members to the URTU.
The Scottish TUC dismisses this claim as a red herring, saying the URTU has refused to provide basic information on the whereabouts of its claimed 1,000 Scottish members.
Now the URTU has threatened legal action against the Scottish TUC, General secretary David Higginbottom says: "We are affiliated to both the English and Welsh TUCs and to many other British and international union bodies. Throughout our 105-year history we have never experienced a situation where fellow trade unionists have sought to prevent us speaking out on behalf of our members and the industry. Yet this appears to be the case here."