The head of Sir Keir Starmer’s union is embroiled in allegations of harassing and bullying women.

Former senior officials claim the GMB – one of Labour’s biggest backers which boasts the Prime Minister among its 500,000-plus members – is a ‘vipers’ nest’, and workers’ subs are ‘used like confetti’ to fight complaints.

General secretary Gary Smith, who endorsed Sir Keir for PM, was allowed to run for the role despite four counts of bullying and harassment against a female union rep being upheld in their entirety by an internal GMB investigation in 2020.

This is not new. In April I wrote:

In the Guardian today:

One of Labour’s biggest union backers has been accused of employing “bullyboy tactics” in an alleged attempt to take over a smaller rail union and seize control of its assets.

Maryam Eslamdoust, the left-leaning general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), claims that the GMB union is using an in-house agreement to block staff recruitment and take control of the white-collar union to access its buildings.https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/apr/04/gmb-accused-of-bullyboy-tactics-in-alleged-attempt-to-take-over-tssa

Anyone shocked to hear that the GMB leader is accused of bullying, again?

Nope, here’s why:

Only last month, the GMB union leader was exposed as a bully and misogynist, after having campaigned to become leader, promising to eradicate the bullying and misogyny at the heart of the union.

In the Herald in March 2024:

The GMB has warned MSPs against the planned hike in minimum unit pricing (MUP) saying it will hurt lowest earning Scots hardest. The trade union, representing many drink industry workers, said ministers had “been too quick to accept the untested assurances of advisors and lobby groups.”

So that’s a culture of bullying and misogyny plus promoting alcohol consumption? There’s a dangerous cocktail. Might we call it ‘Smack my bitch?’

In November 2021, the GMB called out its refuse workers to help Labour exploit littering Cop26 crowds, only to be disappointed by as lack of good images, managing little better than this kind of thing:

Earlier that year, the GMB had been active, using its members ruthlessly, in a political campaign on behalf of Labour:

Before that, in 2020, we had the unedifying site of the GMB leader campaigning together on Reporting Scotland, on behalf of private care home owners, to divert blame for Covid deaths onto the SNP:

One more thing but a big one. The GMB with Scottish Labour champions nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons, and opposes, just as it now does on alcohol, expert advice on the health risks for those living around the facilities, such as Hunterston A and B in Ayrshire.

The Labour Candidate for Ayrshire Central, Alan Gemmell OBE, is a ‘proud GMB member‘.

For more on nuclear risks, see: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=nuclear