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police probe
Page 5
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'allot charge
OR detectives are invesing allegations of ballot ig in the Transport and ral Workers Union 5/35 which have already led resignation of Alan Law :retary of the branch.
d as police sifted through n documents at the ingham branch head.ers over 300 drivers met !mand a top level union e into the conduct of elections in the area.
is is the second time in it years that Mr Law has faced with an investigainto allegations of this spite his resignation as ch secretary in mber, Mr Law retains his power base as Midlands Trade Group secretary and leader of 4,500 drivers in the West Midlands. He is still the man responsible for negotiating pay deals in the area.
Mr Law has already said that when confronted with the allegations of ballot-rigging he was given the choice of resigning or having the facts reported to the general executive committee of the TGWU.
When he decided to resign he was told that this was the end of the matter.
The allegations arose from the allocation of a block vote which was placed in an election without direct reference to the membership of the branch.
Mr Law has said that his office was overloaded with work and could not issue the necessary ballot forms.
Before his resignation Mr Law held an unusual position of power within the union. The position of branch secretary is one that is usually held by lay members of the union and involves a huge workload with 4,500 members.
Since news of the police investigation and Mr Law's resignation as secretary, the branch has become split into four and now angry drivers are demanding a report on the roles played by both Mr Law and TGWU regional secretary Brian Mathers. Many of the drivers think that the rigging allegations have been used as a ruse to break up one of Britain's most influential branches in the union which has also proved to be an embarrassment to the union over some issues.
This week the London headquarters of the TGWU would make no comment on the Midlands situation and Mr Law himself had gone on holiday.