Winners and losers...
When I heard the news about the settlement and Len McC's pronouncement of it being a win-win, I was somewhat suprised. At least until I then had a bit of a think aboutit. Because in fact Unite,and in particular Len, have gained something out of this. Now the cynic in me would say that by showing initial solidarity with BASSA, Len enhanced his credentials as a candidate for the GS position. Certainly, he came across better than his opponents in that respect.
Then again, Unite would be hugely embarrassed if it emerged that its largest branch was guilty of financial incompetence because of its singular failure to publish any audited accounts for the past two years or so. That plus the infighting between the two branches in this disput would not be good for Unite's image. So being presented with the opportunity to bundle the dissolution of these two groups and starting from a clean slate is a definite win for Unite.
What about the BASA KtF crowd ? Well, they've been played by their leaders in both directions. The BASSA executive have suckered them in to keeping the gravy train rolling for a year longer than it needed to have. Unite have used them when it suited their purposes as examples of downtrodden workers, bullied by overbearing management. The Left have lapped it up, The middle class mum image they put cabin crew across as being would play well with voters, Just a pity that the demands were a bit OTT and so out of keeping with the economic times.
The KtF crowd will no doubt join the new branch. Whether they will assimilate or just stay a clique in the corner remains to be seen. If they take the assimilation route, they won't be total losers.