A longstanding Brighton union rep warned yesterday that “chaos is set to hit the city of Brighton’ in one of a series of swiftly deleted tweets.
The @GMBSussexBranch account, which belongs to GMB Sussex branch secretary Mark Turner, also tweeted harsh criticism of the local Labour party, comparing them the Tories.
Mr Turner has been off work due to illness since last autumn. In October, a scathing report into a culture of intimidation, bullying and discrimination by GMB reps and members at Cityclean was published.
Yesterday afternoon, Mr Turner’s account tweeted: “Chaos set to hit the city of Brighton. The sleeping giant has awoken watch this Twitter feed for further information.”
GMB said the deleted tweets were under investigation. Labour declined to comment.
A GMB spokesperson said: “We wish to reassure the people of Brighton that this tweet does not reflect the views of the GMB union. We are launching an immediate investigation into how this tweet was posted.”
Brighton and Hove News sent a private message to the account, asking if Mr Turner was still working for GMB at Brighton and Hove City Council.
The account replied: “Mark hasn’t gone anywhere.”
Another of the deleted public tweets posted yesterday afternoon said: “The Labour council has lost its identity. It’s implement in Tori [sic] cuts by cutting vital services and making compulsory redundancies. At the same time cutting the unions to support their members.”
This was followed up with: “This is the new Bella Sankey, Labour council on how to treat the vulnerable how to treat their own staff at the same time, suppressing the unions to support their members to protect vital frontline services.”
Last month, a council report said that the recommendations of the report into issues at Cityclean were in the process of being implemented.
It said: “The findings of the report are harrowing to read and describe a working environment at Cityclean that can only be described as toxic.
“Given the nature of the allegations, much of the report relates to the behaviour of individuals, many of whom are either GMB representatives or a group of people who were described to the KC as being ‘protected’ by the GMB.
“It is important to note that the KC inquiry did not involve an investigation of specific allegations made, and individuals accused, most of whom did not come forward to speak to the KC, had not at the time of publication been given the opportunity to answer the allegations.
“There were a number of recommendations of formal disciplinary action, and this is the process through which individuals identified in the report are being given the opportunity to answer the allegations against them.”
The report also updated on the November report’s first recommendation, to stop councillors – also known as members – being involved in decisions on whether to sack workers for misconduct via members appeals panels.
It said as this needed to be done in consultation with the GMB and Unison, it would need six months to implement.
Other recommendations include reviewing “alleged agreements” which are not written or agreed, requiring all staff, including union reps, comply with the council’s behaviour framework and removing the GMB union office and parking space at Cityclean.
Is Mr Turner an employee of BHCC or the GMB?
He’s an employee of BHCC so despite the gmb having an income of 46 million a year our council tax is paying for him.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/2863
78/gmb-union-total-gross-annual-income-in-the-uk/
Bella Sankey and several other councillors are members of your union, Mr Turner, but BS at least seems to have seen a large part of the wood for the trees and finds the local GMB’s behaviours unacceptable, particularly in respect of CityClean. Any comment on that, Mr Turner??
Furthermore, Mr Turner, since you appear to have been off ‘sick’ for some time, are local ratepayers funding your sick pay?? If so, this is unacceptable. Or is it the GMB (the latter, I hope)? We’ll see how much support/sympathy you get on this forum – zero or close to it, I’m sure.
Message to BS and other councillor members of the GMB. It’s doing you no favours whatsoever with much of the electorate that you still appear to be wedded to the GMB, if more mutedly, despite all this, although I acknowledge that BS has accepted in its entirety the highly critical report by the independent KC on CityClean. Perhaps consider joining a different union, Bella, (or, better still, no union at all)? Still, at least we have experienced several weeks, if not months, of CityClean going about their business more or less properly and there is evidence that matters have improved. Long may that continue.
Sadly, this latest development – attempted bullying yet again, (im)pure and simple, is all too typical of past behaviour and, if the GMB is not to have its reputation totally trashed – both locally and nationally – then it needs to deal with this in a very decisive and unequivocal manner.
He’s not ill he’s been suspended for months by the council and GMB for facilitating , defending and carrying out some of the behaviour in the KC report so unfortunately our council tax is still paying his wages. One of the reps has been sacked for bringing weapons into the depot so he’s organised a ballot at city clean from afar so expect a revenge bin strike soon.
Threatening chaos is not the point of a Union and not why anyone pays their dues. Preventing chaos and facilitating civilised negotiations to resolve issues as soon as they arise is. Perhaps Mr Turner should step down if he is no longer representing his members who actually want stability, decent wages and decent working conditions. And if he’s no longer fit for the role in any case.
My goodness, threatening an entire city of 260,000+. The brass of the man. The last shout of an organisation that has been utterly discredited. So let’s move on from Mr Turner and his merry men and have our bins emptied in a timely fashion, and dispense with this macho nonsense.
I heard of a colleague who dealt with GMB in the past, and totally agree from what I was told that they try to bully employers. The only way to deal with it is to standup to the bully no matter how much time it takes.
They are bullies, that’s what they do, unfortunately. I know first-hand. Getting favoured binmen off of serious bullying accusations is their usual pastime, of which I know happened a lot. They need to have a complete overhaul and vet new employees properly, to ensure they work professionally and ethically, as opposed to operating on narcissistic power trips.
Either he’s off sick or he isn’t. Union matter?
In the long run might be cheaper to pay this individual to stay off sick, much as it’s an appalling idea. We need to consider withholding our council tax if it comes to the worst and get these independent councillors in, who will know how to deal with this man. In the meantime stay strong Bella, right is on your side.
Sounds like Militant all over again. Bella Sankey needs to get on the phone to Neil Kinnock and ask him how to stand up to these kinds of people. There is no shame in standing up to the union if it is a bad union that has lost its morality.
PS: Hardly the most literate of tweets, was it!
Totally bizarre ‘outburst’ from the ‘Branch Secretary’, who has had a very good run for our money and should now go away quietly or be made to.
It’s easy actually, isn’t it. If there’s any democratic governance within the Sussex GMB branch (doesn’t sound like it so far), then they suspend/dismiss/ pension- off a person for bringing the union into disrepute/long-term illness and inability to discharge duties, disassociate themselves from a ‘personal’ twitter acount using their name and set up a new and legit official account, or whatever. Not difficult. Even if it results in an unfair dismissal claim, , which I suggest, would be a very ill-advised move in all the circumstances, but it would be cheap at the price. However, it isn’t just one person, is it, because it was a culture and there were
followers who were happy to go along with it. Still, cutting the head off the snake would be a brilliant start.
Alternatively, if there is no democratic governance at GMB Sussex, then national GMB should and must step in to resolve it. Not confident on either score. Maybe some of the local GMB members, whether frontline at Cityclean or something else, could engage brains and decide whether or not they really want to be associated with this ongoing fiasco.The same applies to Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who has previously stood in solidarity on picket lines with people like Turner and who now seems to have had a ‘road to Damascus’ moment about the two councillors who have been expelled by Labour, even though he was plugging one of them for all he was worth in the Kemptown election last year (the plugged candidate, by the way, said she was ‘proud to be a member of the GMB’ but I never fathomed why ) I don’t know if he also plugged Mistry, but her originallly impressive (and scarcely believable) list of qualifications/registered interests when she first made a declaration on the council website has now been reduced to ‘membership of the GMB’ – just that, nothing else. Hardly a badge of honour!
It’s particularly disappointing that the council leader, who is a lawyer and who does not need in any shape or form to be a member of or associated with the GMB, still appears to be a member. Why? Some answers would be good, but the local public never get any from anyone.
I should perhaps ‘declare an interest’ in all this, with a hugely sour taste in my mouth. Very many years ago when I was at work my employer (quasi public-sector, soon to be privatised) imposed – yes, I did say ‘imposed’ – a closed shop on existing employees as part of a craven and cowardly deal to avoid crippling industrial action (or, more accurately, inaction) by the GMB. My colleagues and I were not in a part of the operation that had anything whatsoever to do with the industrial issues, and yet we were still caught in the trap and forced to pay the subs. That was immoral and iniquitous. We were called out on strike at one point, but totally ignored the ‘Instructions’ with no comeback. Eventually the closed shop thing was lifted and we all happily got out of the GMB.
I observe that nothing much seems to have changed over the intervening years (probably near to 40 years). The bully boy tactics are still happening.
I would suggest, with not much respect, that some councillors (and particularly the council leader) reflect upon whether it is really OK in the eyes of a large swathe of the electorate to be seen as serving two masters – i.e. ward residents and the GMB.
No it wasn’t, but I guess intelligence isn’t his strong point or his unions come to that.
Indeed, Patcham Guy. Some of us may and do have differences on other, more localised, issues, but this is a citywide/governance issue, which is more important than any of it. Bullies are obviously not intelligent at all, they are just ignorant and blustering individuals who are somehow allowed unbridled power and fall apart when found out and challenged. Unfortunately, they are allowed into positions of unwarranted power despite sub- zero humanity and intelligence. – all at ratepayers’ expense, which has to stop. After all, nobody would actually willingly give their hard-earned cash – particularly in the current dire financial environment- to ‘people’ like this. The even sadder thing is that the bullies seem to command obedience from other like-minded individuals and
their acolytes. That has to change – and soon!
I support unions. There are so many workers in the gig economy and on zero hours who don’t have any rights and need union representation
Having worked for a while at Cityclean nothing surprises me about the reports of a toxic atmosphere or that it’s impossible to know if Turner is off sick or working.
But because the GMB fund Labour with their members subscriptions in the end nothing will happen to the reps
I was a workplace rep. They turn on their members if told to.
Discriminated against for not being one of the Labour gang. Witnessed and experienced both threats and intimidation.
Complaints to GMB head office frankly ignored in support of the cronyism.
Hateful experience.
I was a workplace rep. They turn on their members if told to.
Discriminated against for not being one of the Labour gang. Witnessed and experienced both threats and intimidation.
Complaints to GMB head office frankly ignored in support of the cronyism.
Hateful experience.
All I asked was an apology and subscriptions returned plus offered to be part of a new local office of the union
To be fair the sleeping giant had only just woke up and might have been abit grumpy. If he has been hiberating since last October he probably needed a coffee and a bite to eat before he calmed down again.
It’s diabolical that the council didn’t take action before now. Mark is as toxic as that Dave. The pair of them and several of their long term mates that they got well paid jobs at city clean through the back door should be publicly sacked and no references given for future work.
They should queue up at the dole office and take hand outs to experience humble. Poisonous to the core. Leading vulnerable workers into disrepute. The workers got the blame in the press for the GMB reps behaviours. Utterly disgusting. Shame on the council for taking so long.
Interesting remark from M Turner “the Chaos to hit Brighton soon ” is it just a coincidence or can he forsee the events in the near future. When I was a senior manager at Hollingdean depot I recall that during Mark Turner and GMB disputes with management Refuse vehicles were regulary sabotaged thus disrupting the refuse service causing chaos, of course I am not suggesting but…….once the disputes were over no fiurther incidents of similar nature occurred
Just saying
as a rider Mark Turner was recruited as a road sweeper oops ! sorry cleansing technician back in the late 70 early 80′ s as i recall I never once observed him sweeping the roads as he appeared to be too busy with his so called union duties must still be on the council payroll
I myself were subject to malicious and false accusations on many occasions by an employee that Mr Turner defended, happily that particular person was found out to be committing fraud and theft and was duly dismissed
anyone remember Red Robbo ? read an interesting article the other day just saying
With mark turner tweeting making threats about chaos hitting Brighton and the beast being awake, I’d safely bet the truck fire that very same evening , was definitely not an accident… And it’s highly suspicious that the GMB member security guard was ‘ on the loo’ whilst the fire started!
Not very clever mark!
Mark turner was doing this in throughout the 70s 80s & 90s whilst refuse vehicles were being sabotaged
The games up
sabotage to trucks continued throughout the 90”s 00’s 10’s and still in 2021’s bin strike!
He actually told over100 operatives and loaders during a member meeting to break the trucks if they didn’t want to clear up the mess that they had created on the citys streets during the strike , he advised the Agency workers would clear it up and they’d still get paid their make up money because they would go back on strike if they didn’t.
Brighton need to pull their finger out. Why is he employed? There has been plenty of time to conduct a disciplinary hearing. He’ll hide behind the fact that hes sick and unable to participate and milk the system whilst getting paid for a year. Refer him to a doctor and specifically ask “is there any medical reason why he is unable to participate in a disciplinary hearing.” Whilst he remains employed he will always try to influence things. I have encountered situations like this before, he is a bully and rules by fear and intimidation. Dismiss him and there will be a cloud lifted from the depot.
As for GMB, if he is sending out tweets in their name, and they claim he is not representing them then that is against their rules and they should be kicking him out of the Union. People like Mark Turner are a cancer, and they need to be cut out.