Amicus
Encyclopedia
Amicus was the United Kingdom
's second-largest trade union
, and the largest private sector union, formed by the merger of Manufacturing Science and Finance, the AEEU (Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
) agreed in 2001, and two smaller unions, UNIFI
and the GPMU
. Amicus also organised in both parts of Ireland
and was affiliated to the UK Trades Union Congress
, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions
and the Scottish Trades Union Congress
.
On 1 May 2007 it merged with the TGWU to form Unite, which is the biggest trade union in the UK.
, predominantly in the private sector. At the 2005 TUC Congress it was reported that Amicus had 1,200,000 members of whom 266,986 were female and 933,014 male.
in Britain, and the Irish Labour Party (Ireland)
. The Amicus UK Parliamentary Group includes about 120 MPs.
was Roger Lyons
, and Sir Ken Jackson led the AEEU
. When the merger came into force they both became Joint General Secretaries of Amicus. Jackson was forced to hold an election, and was replaced by Derek Simpson
. In May 2003, Simpson became General Secretary in his own right following the departure of Lyons.
'Amicus' was chosen for the name of this new union for its Latin
meaning: friend, comrade (m).
(the union for the finance industry) and the Graphical, Paper and Media Union
.
During 2005 discussions started between the TGWU, Amicus and the GMB
about the possibility of merging the three unions into one organisation with potentially 2.5 million members covering almost every segment of the economy. On 14 June 2006 the GMB Conference voted not to continue with discussions although the other two unions pursued merger talks. A recall conference of the TGWU held on 18 December 2006 supported the merger (Amicus did not hold a recall conference), and a ballot of both unions' membership during February and early March 2007, also approved the merger. The result of the ballot was announced on 8 March 2007: 70.1% of Amicus members and 86.4% of T&G members voted to support the merger, from a turnout of 27%. The press release announced that the resulting union had the working title "New Union" and the name would be decided by a ballot of the membership. http://www.amicustheunion.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=6049 However, on 2 April, The Times
reported that the name Unite had been chosen.
In early April 2007, the BBC
announced that Amicus was to begin discussions with North America
n union, United Steelworkers
, about a possible merger. If successful, it would create an international "super union" with more than 3 million members, more able to pressure multinational companies
and their managers. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6531749.stm This project eventually became Workers Uniting
, a proposed union resulting from the merger of the United Steelworkers and Amicus' successor Unite.
Amicus has a corporate office at 35 King Street in London's
Covent Garden
, and its main administrative centre, Hayes Court, is at Bromley
in south-east London. The union runs two of its own colleges, Esher Place
at Esher
in Surrey
and Quorn Grange at Loughborough
in Leicestershire
, and is a major user of Wortley Hall
near Sheffield
. A further facility, Whitehall College in Bishop's Stortford
, Hertfordshire
is currently inactive, following a survey which revealed the presence of large amounts of asbestos
which will be expensive to remove.
The union operates many other offices across Britain and Ireland to support activity in each of the union's 12 regions. The four unions forming Amicus each had a fully developed network of offices to support their own operations; there is an ongoing exercise to co-locate staff from geographically adjacent offices in order to reduce the property portfolio.
, Wales
, and the island of Ireland together with nine English
regions corresponding to the British government's Regional Development Agencies
. Each region has a Regional Council which meets every two months and is composed of about 35 delegates, elected by regional Sector, Women's, Equalities and Branch Conferences.
An Amicus region typically contains several hundred branches, each of which represent a smaller group of members, running local campaigns on their behalf and providing a means for members to socialise with one another and increase their involvement in Amicus and the wider union movement. Nationally, there are about 1900 branches. Branches are typically organised on a workplace, geographical or sectoral basis, and vary in size from a few dozen to several thousand members. One reason for the wide variation in branch size and type is that, during the numerous union mergers which culminated in the formation of Amicus, branches were often not forced to merge. For this reason many branches are still based on the structures that existed in long-disappeared unions such as TASS
. Some branches are inactive, for example because the workplace they represented no longer exists. In 2005, Amicus began a consultation on reorganisation of branches, primarily intended to close inactive branches or merge them with neighbouring ones which are more active. Not surprisingly this reorganisation was of some concern to branch activists, and prompted a number of neighbouring branches to voluntarily merge in order to pre-empt any action from the centre. Other branches, for example those in the voluntary sector
, are by their nature small, and have made representations to the NEC and the General Secretary in which they pointed out that a small branch is not necessarily an inactive one. As of October 2006 the results of the branch consultation have not been published.
In general, committees of the union from branch level upwards must be composed of lay members elected by the group of members they represent, as per MSF custom and practice. A notable exception is for the secretary of a regional or national committee, who is usually a Full-Time Officer employed by the union. However, within the AEEU, branches were often chaired by Officers.
A rule change in 2005 provided for the establishment of Area Activist Quarterlies (also known as Area Committees) consisting of workplace representatives and branch officers from a given geographical area, to be smaller than the existing Regions. These resemble the AEEU's District Committees. The first Quarterlies took place in April 2006, and will be convened four times per year. The primary purpose of the Quarterlies is to allow local activists to share information on local issues such as redundancies and industrial disputes, and co-ordinate local campaigns.
Amicus conferences are organised on a two-yearly cycle with national Policy Conferences taking place in odd-numbered years, and sectoral, national equality and regional branch conferences being held in the intervening years. This differs with MSF and AEEU arrangements where national conferences took place on an annual basis. Similarly, Regional Councils meet every two months as opposed to monthly under MSF.
Due to the two-yearly cycle, Amicus does not have a President, because legislation requires the position to be elected annually - either by delegates to annual conference, or the entire membership. In view of the cost of a national postal ballot, the Chair of the NEC was given the role of chairing the 2005 Policy and Rules Conferences.
The only Rules Conference of Amicus took place in 2005. The next Rules Conference was planned to take place in 2009, but following the merger with the T+G it is now likely to take place in 2010, as part of the wider Unite union.
exist. The Amicus Unity Gazette has broad left
aims and objectives. There was an attempt to launch an "Amicus The Union Network" or ATU Network
, whose political position is disputed, but this never really took off. Right of centre groups from the old MSF (MSF For Labour) and AEEU (AEEU United) still operate. Lay members and Amicus employees participate in all these caucuses.
Amicus wrote and created the role of the Trade Union Disability Champion@Work. Funded initially by a European grant under the Year of Disabled People 2003 there are now over a thousand Champions from nearly 40 trade unions operating in workplaces across the UK and Ireland. for more information visit www.disabilitychampions.com.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's second-largest trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
, and the largest private sector union, formed by the merger of Manufacturing Science and Finance, the AEEU (Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001.The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the "Old Mechanics" of 1826, which grew into the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1851...
) agreed in 2001, and two smaller unions, UNIFI
UNIFI (trade union)
UNIFI was a trade union representing worked in the finance sector in Britain. The name UNiFI was briefly adopted by the Barclays Group Staff Union in 1999. Later in the year, the union merged with the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union and the NatWest Staff Association, and the new organisation...
and the GPMU
Graphical, Paper and Media Union
The Graphical, Paper and Media Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland between 1992 and 2005. Having been formed from the merger of SOGAT and the National Graphical Association, it claimed to be the world's largest media union, and had over 200,000 members working...
. Amicus also organised in both parts of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and was affiliated to the UK Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Irish Congress of Trade Unions
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions , formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trade Union Congress and the Congress of Irish Unions , is a national trade union centre, the umbrella organisation to which trade unions in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland affiliate.-Influence:There...
and the Scottish Trades Union Congress
Scottish Trades Union Congress
The Scottish Trades Union Congress is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists....
.
On 1 May 2007 it merged with the TGWU to form Unite, which is the biggest trade union in the UK.
Industry representation
Amicus organises workers in almost every industryIndustry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, predominantly in the private sector. At the 2005 TUC Congress it was reported that Amicus had 1,200,000 members of whom 266,986 were female and 933,014 male.
Political affiliations
Amicus is affiliated to the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in Britain, and the Irish Labour Party (Ireland)
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
. The Amicus UK Parliamentary Group includes about 120 MPs.
Foundation
When the merger to form Amicus was agreed, the General Secretary of MSFManufacturing, Science and Finance
Manufacturing, Science and Finance was a trade union in Britain...
was Roger Lyons
Roger Lyons
Roger Lyons was the General Secretary of the MSF trade union from 1992 and re-elected leader of the union in 1997. When the union merged with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union to form Amicus in 2002 he subsequently became one of the Joint General Secretaries of Amicus.Lyons studied...
, and Sir Ken Jackson led the AEEU
Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union
The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001.The history of the union can be traced back to the formation of the "Old Mechanics" of 1826, which grew into the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1851...
. When the merger came into force they both became Joint General Secretaries of Amicus. Jackson was forced to hold an election, and was replaced by Derek Simpson
Derek Simpson (trade unionist)
Derek Simpson is the former Joint General Secretary of the UK's biggest private-sector trade union, Unite from 2007 until 2010. He was General Secretary of the Amicus trade union from 2002 until its merger with the Transport and General Workers' Union to form Unite in 2007.-Early life:Derek...
. In May 2003, Simpson became General Secretary in his own right following the departure of Lyons.
'Amicus' was chosen for the name of this new union for its Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
meaning: friend, comrade (m).
Further mergers
In late 2004 two other major unions joined Amicus - UNIFIUNIFI (trade union)
UNIFI was a trade union representing worked in the finance sector in Britain. The name UNiFI was briefly adopted by the Barclays Group Staff Union in 1999. Later in the year, the union merged with the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union and the NatWest Staff Association, and the new organisation...
(the union for the finance industry) and the Graphical, Paper and Media Union
Graphical, Paper and Media Union
The Graphical, Paper and Media Union was a trade union in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland between 1992 and 2005. Having been formed from the merger of SOGAT and the National Graphical Association, it claimed to be the world's largest media union, and had over 200,000 members working...
.
During 2005 discussions started between the TGWU, Amicus and the GMB
GMB Union
The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 600,000 members. Its members are drawn from many sectors, with particular strength amongst manual workers in local government and the health service...
about the possibility of merging the three unions into one organisation with potentially 2.5 million members covering almost every segment of the economy. On 14 June 2006 the GMB Conference voted not to continue with discussions although the other two unions pursued merger talks. A recall conference of the TGWU held on 18 December 2006 supported the merger (Amicus did not hold a recall conference), and a ballot of both unions' membership during February and early March 2007, also approved the merger. The result of the ballot was announced on 8 March 2007: 70.1% of Amicus members and 86.4% of T&G members voted to support the merger, from a turnout of 27%. The press release announced that the resulting union had the working title "New Union" and the name would be decided by a ballot of the membership. http://www.amicustheunion.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=6049 However, on 2 April, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reported that the name Unite had been chosen.
In early April 2007, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
announced that Amicus was to begin discussions with North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n union, United Steelworkers
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union is the largest industrial labor union in North America, with 705,000 members. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, U.S., the United Steelworkers represents workers in the United...
, about a possible merger. If successful, it would create an international "super union" with more than 3 million members, more able to pressure multinational companies
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
and their managers. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6531749.stm This project eventually became Workers Uniting
Workers Uniting
Workers Uniting is a trans-Atlantic trade union created in 2008 by a merger of Unite the Union of the United Kingdom and Ireland with the U.S.-based United Steelworkers union . Both unions still retain individual branding and leadership.The merged union has a membership of three million members....
, a proposed union resulting from the merger of the United Steelworkers and Amicus' successor Unite.
Organisation
The supreme decision-making body of Amicus is its Policy Conference which convenes every two years. At other times, the National Executive Council, which meets every two months, is responsible for governance of the union. However, the General Secretary is empowered to make executive decisions in the periods between meetings of the NEC.Amicus has a corporate office at 35 King Street in London's
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, and its main administrative centre, Hayes Court, is at Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
in south-east London. The union runs two of its own colleges, Esher Place
Esher Place
Esher Place is a Grade-II listed country house, now used as a college by the trade union Unite, in Esher, Surrey, United Kingdom. The current building is at least the fourth on the site.-History:...
at Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Quorn Grange at Loughborough
Loughborough
Loughborough is a town within the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and is home to Loughborough University...
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, and is a major user of Wortley Hall
Wortley Hall
Wortley Hall is a stately home in the small South Yorkshire village of Wortley, located west of Barnsley. For more than five decades the hall has been chiefly associated with the British Labour movement...
near Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. A further facility, Whitehall College in Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated just west of the M11 motorway, on the county boundary with Essex and is the closest large town to London Stansted Airport and part of the...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
is currently inactive, following a survey which revealed the presence of large amounts of asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
which will be expensive to remove.
The union operates many other offices across Britain and Ireland to support activity in each of the union's 12 regions. The four unions forming Amicus each had a fully developed network of offices to support their own operations; there is an ongoing exercise to co-locate staff from geographically adjacent offices in order to reduce the property portfolio.
Sectors
Amicus is primarily a sector-based union. The industrial sectors are responsible for electing the majority of National Executive Committee members, and have the right to submit the majority of motions to the Policy and Rules Conferences. The remainder of NEC positions are regional and women's seats.Regions
Amicus has 12 regions - ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and the island of Ireland together with nine English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
regions corresponding to the British government's Regional Development Agencies
Regional Development Agency
In the United Kingdom, a regional development agency is a non-departmental public body established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of one of England's Government Office regions. There is one RDA for each of the NUTS level 1 regions of England...
. Each region has a Regional Council which meets every two months and is composed of about 35 delegates, elected by regional Sector, Women's, Equalities and Branch Conferences.
An Amicus region typically contains several hundred branches, each of which represent a smaller group of members, running local campaigns on their behalf and providing a means for members to socialise with one another and increase their involvement in Amicus and the wider union movement. Nationally, there are about 1900 branches. Branches are typically organised on a workplace, geographical or sectoral basis, and vary in size from a few dozen to several thousand members. One reason for the wide variation in branch size and type is that, during the numerous union mergers which culminated in the formation of Amicus, branches were often not forced to merge. For this reason many branches are still based on the structures that existed in long-disappeared unions such as TASS
Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section
The Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section was a British trade union.In 1970, the Draughtsmen's and Allied Technicians' Association , Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers and Constructional Engineering Union amalgamated to form the Amalgamated Union of Engineering...
. Some branches are inactive, for example because the workplace they represented no longer exists. In 2005, Amicus began a consultation on reorganisation of branches, primarily intended to close inactive branches or merge them with neighbouring ones which are more active. Not surprisingly this reorganisation was of some concern to branch activists, and prompted a number of neighbouring branches to voluntarily merge in order to pre-empt any action from the centre. Other branches, for example those in the voluntary sector
Voluntary sector
The voluntary sector or community sector is the sphere of social activity undertaken by organizations that are for non-profit and non-governmental. This sector is also called the third sector, in reference to the public sector and the private sector...
, are by their nature small, and have made representations to the NEC and the General Secretary in which they pointed out that a small branch is not necessarily an inactive one. As of October 2006 the results of the branch consultation have not been published.
Elections and local control
The sectoral nature of Amicus contrasts with MSF where branches and regions held the majority of control and where branches were entitled to directly elect delegates to national policy and rules conferences. In Amicus, all conference delegates must be elected by a National Sector, Women's or Equalities Conference or a Regional Branch Conference.In general, committees of the union from branch level upwards must be composed of lay members elected by the group of members they represent, as per MSF custom and practice. A notable exception is for the secretary of a regional or national committee, who is usually a Full-Time Officer employed by the union. However, within the AEEU, branches were often chaired by Officers.
A rule change in 2005 provided for the establishment of Area Activist Quarterlies (also known as Area Committees) consisting of workplace representatives and branch officers from a given geographical area, to be smaller than the existing Regions. These resemble the AEEU's District Committees. The first Quarterlies took place in April 2006, and will be convened four times per year. The primary purpose of the Quarterlies is to allow local activists to share information on local issues such as redundancies and industrial disputes, and co-ordinate local campaigns.
Conferences and committees
As a general rule any candidate for a position on a committee of the union must also be a workplace representative, in order to retain the connection with workplaces. However retired members may hold branch positions; until a rule change in 2005, retired members wishing to hold a position other than Branch Secretary needed the NEC's consent. An further exception is made for the equalities committees where a committee member is expected to be in employment but need not be a representative.Amicus conferences are organised on a two-yearly cycle with national Policy Conferences taking place in odd-numbered years, and sectoral, national equality and regional branch conferences being held in the intervening years. This differs with MSF and AEEU arrangements where national conferences took place on an annual basis. Similarly, Regional Councils meet every two months as opposed to monthly under MSF.
Due to the two-yearly cycle, Amicus does not have a President, because legislation requires the position to be elected annually - either by delegates to annual conference, or the entire membership. In view of the cost of a national postal ballot, the Chair of the NEC was given the role of chairing the 2005 Policy and Rules Conferences.
The only Rules Conference of Amicus took place in 2005. The next Rules Conference was planned to take place in 2009, but following the merger with the T+G it is now likely to take place in 2010, as part of the wider Unite union.
Caucus groups
A variety of caucus groupsCaucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
exist. The Amicus Unity Gazette has broad left
Broad left
Broad Left is a coalition of left members, usually involving independents, members of the Labour Party, and members of organised revolutionary leftist movements within a trade union. Several groups are described by the term....
aims and objectives. There was an attempt to launch an "Amicus The Union Network" or ATU Network
ATU Network
ATU Network is a caucus group within the Amicus trade union which seeks to attract members and employees of Amicus who support the Labour Party and who are sympathetic to Blairism...
, whose political position is disputed, but this never really took off. Right of centre groups from the old MSF (MSF For Labour) and AEEU (AEEU United) still operate. Lay members and Amicus employees participate in all these caucuses.
Amicus wrote and created the role of the Trade Union Disability Champion@Work. Funded initially by a European grant under the Year of Disabled People 2003 there are now over a thousand Champions from nearly 40 trade unions operating in workplaces across the UK and Ireland. for more information visit www.disabilitychampions.com.
General Secretaries
- 2001–2002: Ken Jackson and Roger LyonsRoger LyonsRoger Lyons was the General Secretary of the MSF trade union from 1992 and re-elected leader of the union in 1997. When the union merged with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union to form Amicus in 2002 he subsequently became one of the Joint General Secretaries of Amicus.Lyons studied...
- 2002–2004: Derek SimpsonDerek Simpson (trade unionist)Derek Simpson is the former Joint General Secretary of the UK's biggest private-sector trade union, Unite from 2007 until 2010. He was General Secretary of the Amicus trade union from 2002 until its merger with the Transport and General Workers' Union to form Unite in 2007.-Early life:Derek...
and Roger LyonsRoger LyonsRoger Lyons was the General Secretary of the MSF trade union from 1992 and re-elected leader of the union in 1997. When the union merged with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union to form Amicus in 2002 he subsequently became one of the Joint General Secretaries of Amicus.Lyons studied... - 2004–2007: Derek SimpsonDerek Simpson (trade unionist)Derek Simpson is the former Joint General Secretary of the UK's biggest private-sector trade union, Unite from 2007 until 2010. He was General Secretary of the Amicus trade union from 2002 until its merger with the Transport and General Workers' Union to form Unite in 2007.-Early life:Derek...