Stop trade union victimisation!

Mark Dunne, ELFT’s most senior trade union representative, is facing redundancy. This redundancy and other processes related to it, have been handled with unprecedented hostility indicating a clear act of trade union victimisation.

Trade union organisation depends on elected reps using their rights to paid time off for their union duties. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Mark was told to concentrate on staffside fulltime and was granted fulltime release from his substantive clinical role in the Finance Department. During this period Mark was elected staffside chair, leading all the staffside unions representing over 3000 union members. Mark was due to return to some of his substantive work in 2024 but was told to continue on full time staffside to support staff during the devastating cuts.

During this time, Mark has been steadfast in challenging management at every stage against NHS cuts and central to our campaigns for pay restoration, safer staffing, and Covid-19 safety. He is tireless in his work for the union, supporting members in individual grievances and disciplinaries and ensuring our views are represented on the regional and national committees on Unite.

ELFT have now decided to reorganise the Finance Department and delete Mark’s job. ELFT have chosen to completely ignore the fact that Mark has been essentially seconded for 6 years to a role and activity which is still on going. Effectively getting rid of the hard-working union representative on full time release.

Mark’s victimisation is an attack on our rights as workers to organise and elect our own representatives. It is an attempt to intimidate those who speak truth to power. We need to stand in solidarity with Mark and remember the old saying: “An injury to one is an injury to all”.

Trade union victimisation in the NHS is extremely rare. In most NHS Trusts, trade union representatives are treated with respect, and the rights of reps are honoured but not apparently in ELFT.  

If this victimisation is allowed to go ahead then it will be a stain on ELFT’s reputation and make a mockery of ELFT’s values “We Care, We Respect, We Are Inclusive”. It will weaken our trade union organisation and make it easier to push through cuts.

As Unite are now in an official dispute with ELFT, Mark needs your support.

What can you do?

We need a massive show of support for Mark to get management to pause its redundancy notice so he can continue to represent us and negotiate a respectful way forward given his position as Staffside Chair and Secretary of ELFT’s Unite branch.