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.
After securing the £148,000-a-year job, Mr Smith was secretly recorded warning a female employee ‘we’ve got better lawyers than you’ after she brought a sexual harassment claim against another official.
Mr Smith admitted that the man the woman had complained about was ‘a scumbag who abused you’, but added: ‘Once you get into a fight with a big organisation, yep, we are going to come out swinging, and we’ve got better lawyers than you, and they’ll be more expensive. That’s just what happens.
‘You put a gun on the table… people just start shooting back.’
The woman signed a settlement agreement with a confidentiality clause before eventually leaving the union. ‘[They] crush anyone who tries to speak up,’ she said.
The GMB says Mr Smith’s comments in the recording were taken out of context and that an independent barrister investigated the employee’s experience and found she was ‘politically motivated’ against Mr Smith.
Details of Sir Keir’s membership of the GMB emerged in the list of ministers’ interests published this month.
It’s not clear why the former human rights lawyer joined the general industry union, but it is likely a nod to his late father’s factory job as a tool-maker.
The GMB, which donates more than £1 million to Labour every year, is the UK’s third-biggest union with members from a wide range of industries, including the NHS, social care, retail, schools and local government. Many are in low-paid jobs.
The Mail has spoken to numerous former and current GMB workers who likened the union to an ‘old men’s club’.
Anne Chandler, an official who claimed she was forced out in 2022 after 25 years, said the GMB was ‘riddled with sexism’.
Ms Chandler, 69, lodged a bullying complaint in 2021 against two male colleagues who hatched a ‘wholly inappropriate’ plan to sack her. Her complaint was upheld.
The probe found that the two senior male figures told Ms Chandler’s new boss: ‘Your first job will be to sack Anne Chandler.’
In a letter to Ms Chandler, the regional GMB secretary who carried out the investigation admitted: ‘The fact that the two senior organisers are men seeking to influence a third male senior organiser against a woman officer colleague is deeply concerning.’
The two men were disciplined but remain working in the GMB.
Ms Chandler said she felt like she had no option but to retire five years earlier than planned, adding: ‘In the end, the pressure became so bad… I just bit the bullet and said, I can’t do this any more. The whole process of the bullying was dreadful, and I’ve witnessed bullying and harassment throughout the organisation.’
A female rep in the GMB, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of repercussions, said the union was full of ‘scared people’ who were ‘frightened of being suspended if they say anything’.
Another, who has worked in the union movement for three decades, said: ‘The amount of fear from people is just horrible.’
Our shocking exposé comes after a damning 2020 report into the GMB concluded that ‘bullying, misogyny, cronyism, and sexual harassment were endemic’, and branded the union ‘institutionally sexist’.
Karon Monaghan KC’s investigation found the GMB was a ‘hostile environment’ for women and said a ‘complete transformation’ in culture and practices was required.
When Mr Smith was elected general secretary in 2021, he promised to implement the recommendations of the Monaghan Report in full and was even described as its ‘moral compass’. But members say the situation is worse under him.
Paul Maloney, a former regional secretary who worked for the union for 40 years, hit out at Labour’s close affiliation with the GMB. He said: ‘It’s not very ethical that [Labour] are saying we stand for what’s right, and yet we take money from an organisation that will keep doing wrong from within and punishing women.’
A current female rep criticised the use of expensive lawyers such as top firm Carter-Ruck. ‘My members are paying for that,’ she said. ‘They are cleaners and low-paid workers – why should they be paying for Carter-Ruck?’
A spokesman for the GMB said: ‘We categorically deny claims of a bullying culture and do not recognise our union in the accounts of these former members of staff.
‘We now have clear, comprehensive and transparent procedures to fully investigate and effectively deal with any allegation of bullying, sexism or harassment.
‘We do not use non-disclosure agreements and staff leaving the organisation are asked to sign standard settlement agreements, similar to those used by virtually every organisation across the public and private sectors.
‘It is untrue to suggest Anne Chandler was compelled to leave GMB after she chose to retire two years ago. She voluntarily chose to withdraw complaints raised at an Employment Tribunal and has taken no further action.’
Mr Smith and the Labour Party were approached for comment but did not respond.