Unite
the Union - Transport & General Section - contract to members
Unite Transport and General section does not
- have a clear contract to provide legal services at people
to work, any more than it
- sends members branch accounts
(it will put an "intermediate ledger" on the office
table if you visit by appointment)
- ballots every member in branch elections
The governing document - the rule book - suggests that there
should be a specific benefits (rules.html#19.15) which schedule #II
of the rule book says should be distributed:
"As a matter of information to members full details
of all T&G contributions and all T&G benefits and services
will be published by the General Executive Council from time
to time and distributed to all branches"
...but no full contract exists. The recruiting leaflet
just mentions "legal services and advice", while
the most relevant web site pages refer to other web site pages
in a circular way.
The nearest legal equivalent of a contract is the T&G
rule book itself - which is online at Amicus but only available
on request by post at the T&G. It is not sent to members
unless they ask. There is also a pdf
download union mambership leaflet. Unison's rule book is
downloadable as a pdf from this
page of their site, as well as being quoted on the Unison-lawyers.html
page here.
As an example of a detailed insurance contract, PetPlan offers
tells you more than enough about what it covers for your dog
in plain english from the first day - the contract runs to about
a thousand words. Unfortunately human beings aren't allowed to
pretend to be dogs and adapt the plan to pay for legal expenses
against an employer: it is very specific about all these details
so that nobody from the Communist Party can elect themselves
onto a branch committee and say "you don't understand"
to your dog the last minute.
Unison
the trade union's contract to members to provide a service
Unison legal services to members are contracted like this,
according to the case in the Unison-lawyers.html
page which describes what this means in practice
B3.1 to provide minimum guaranteed standards of advice,
representation and service (to members).
Unite
the Union Amicus section's contract to help members
Unite-Amicus legal services to members are contracted like
this, according to the new Amicus rule book on their web site,
after 26 weeks' membership:
Legal Assistance
(10) A member who is entitled to benefit who suffers injury or
disease arising out of or in
connection with his/her employment (or the dependants of such
a member who has died)
shall be entitled to such legal advice and representation and
on such terms as the National
Executive Council may consider appropriate.
(11) A member seeking legal assistance must ensure that a request
in the appropriate form is
lodged at the appropriate Union office in sufficient time and
with sufficient information to
enable the request to be considered and appropriate action taken.
(12) A member who requires advice and/or representation
on a problem relating to the members
employment which first arose at a time when the member was entitled
to benefit and which
cannot be resolved through the members workplace representative
should refer the matter to
the appropriate Regional Officer. The Union shall
provide such advice and/or representation
whether by a full time officer or otherwise and on such terms
as the National Executive
Council shall consider appropriate.
(13) The National Executive Council may provide such additional
legal advice and representation to
members and to members families as it may consider appropriate.
(14) The National Executive Council may extend legal assistance
to a member who is not otherwise
entitled to benefits.
(15) A member who is given advice and/or representation under
this rule shall provide all relevant
information and co-operate fully with the compilation of evidence
for any legal proceedings.
If a member fails to do so or provides false or misleading information
or fails to act upon the
advice of those appointed to represent him/her, the National
Executive Council may at its
absolute discretion annul all legal assistance or withdraw any
further legal assistance
to that member.
So they start off in clause ten offering a service which lawyers
advertising on this site will offer for free. Thompson's, the
largest trade union solicitor's firm writes "If you are
a Non-Union Member, Thompsons Solicitors can offer you free legal
assistance with any personal injury, clinical negligence or industrial
illness claim." and OH Parsons, a firm that still says
it works exclusively for trades unions, also offers an 0800 number
and online claim form for industrial disease and personal injury
cases just in case they should make an exception and some unions
are offering "associate membership" just to
get a share of the cash. One firm offers 10% cash
back on top of your full claim for taxi driver's traffic injury
claims. If you're an ordinary Unite-Amicus member, you get
the grudging service described in clause 12 and if your claim
is about something that costs them money like employment law
of all things then the person who wrote clause 13 doesn't seem
to know. A fair system might offer to pay costs up to the total
membership contribution that a member has paid, so that you get
a bluff-based settlement-only service from day one and a real
backup at an employment tribunal after it's clear that you didn't
join because of a high risk of legal claims and you are more
like a proper legal insurance customer. None of this is thought
worth putting in writing:
"The Union shall provide such advice and/or representation
whether by a full time officer or otherwise and on such terms
as the National Executive
Council shall consider appropriate."
The union doesn't even offer to help you get your thoughts
in order if you're a typical union member and not a lawyer, if
you're stressed and busy on other things. There may be internal
documents like job descriptions to say that officials do this
if they have time, talent and inclination, but according to the
ones documents that members can read, you have to have a clear
simple complaint before you ask for help, in which case you might
as well fill-in an Employment Tribunal form yourself to save
copying the text from one to the other and that very practical
suggestion was made to me at the T&G. At the last minute
or later I was rung by a volunteer to be told that if as a member
I submitted my claim form to the tribunal, the official would
refer my case to their lawyer and pay.
After pages about committee structures, the book finds a page
to try and be specific, and state any other half-forgotten benefits
such as brass band allowance or a special deal on diaries, cap
badges etc:
SCHEDULE OF BENEFITS
- Dispute Benefit
Per Week Per day of five day week
£60.00 £12.00
- Victimisation Benefit
At the National Executive Councils discretion.
- Legal Assistance
As appropriate.
- Permanent Disablement
Scale of disablement Grant
41-50% £550
51-60% £660
61-70% £770
71-80% £880
81-90% £990
91-100% £1100
- Fatal Accident Grant
£2200
- Other Benefits
At the National Executive Councils discretion.
5/08 and 7/08
The University
and College Union
The University and College Union has had to explain it's legal
service to an employment tribunal recently, after a stress claimant
then sued his union for failure to represent and discrimination.
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2008/0384_07_1203.html
The generally good and worth-consulting etclaims.co.uk
- run by legal action group and the authors of Employment Tribunal
Claims: Tactics and Precidents - writes this about union lawyers:
Getting Advice:
Trade Unions
A claimant who is a member of a trade union should normally
expect to be represented by the union in a dispute with his or
her employer. Unions have different rules about which cases they
will support and some will withraw support (sometimes shortly
before the hearing) if the claimant refuses to accept what the
union's lawyers advise is a good offer of settlement. Claimants
considering relying on union assistance should make sure that
they have been given clear information about the circumstances
in which the union will withdraw its assistance.
This is the kind of information that well-meaning journalists
write in lieu of facts, on the assumption that there must be
some kind of contract to provide a legal service and there must
some proportionate legal service, rather than an undemocratic
scam for taking members money and putting into slush funds with
government protection. The case above shows a union admitting
that there is no clear information available to give to members
about and there is precious little legal assitance. What there
is - beyond a panel of no-win no-fee lawyers - is rationed according
to the amount of money left in a small budget and what gets the
union good publicity. It is a scandle supported by those commentators
who's well-meaning instincts make it hard for them to believe
the scale of the scandle. They see it and it does not register.
Only when there have been a few Panorama-style documentaries
about union scams and perhaps a change of government will the
scale emerge.
Whistle-blowing by a panel lawyer:
£850 "referral fees" leaving £350 to fight
the case
Footnote #1 RTA110 - quoted to contrast the
value for money offered on personal injury benefits.
personal
injury lawyer's campaign hots up to ensure taxi drivers get legal
service they deserve
2006-12-21, RTA110 - Avatar Posted by prcompass - Category:
Automotive
A campaign launched by law firm RTA110 (www.rta110.com) to
get a fairer deal for taxi drivers injured in accidents is gaining
momentum.
Road traffic accidents are an occupational hazard for professional
drivers and the risk of being in a non-fault accident increases
every year as roads become busier. An RTA can threaten a taxi
driver's livelihood. It's essential taxi drivers get the best
legal advice they can in such circumstances.
Unfortunately, this is rarely the case, according to Personal
Injury Claim Solicitor Mark Lampkin, of RTA110, based near Chester,
UK. He claims that in most cases non-fault drivers are being
palmed off with a cost-cutting service from a solicitor who has
already spent a chunk of the costs allocated to help them.
Lampkin explained: "Most personal injury claim solicitors
pay insurers, credit hire companies, garages and big taxi firms,
among others, for details of drivers who have been involved in
an RTA that wasn't their fault."
"Standardised costs have been worked out by the Law
Society Regulation Board and are paid to solicitors working on
RTA cases. These costs legally belong to the client but most
solicitors pay for referrals out of these costs. This means there
will be less money to pay for their services."
The result, says Lampkin, is a poorer service because a solicitor
is unlikely to spend time for which he's not being paid. Reduced
damages may be the ultimate result of that poor service. Lampkin
recently started a campaign to bring an end to the referral system.
Now, no less a figure than the Lord Chancellor, the UK's most
senior lawyer, has added his voice to the growing clamour calling
for a review of the situation.
Speaking at the Law Society's annual conference, Lord Falconer
of Thoroton said:
"I have a distaste for the financial traffic in personal
injury litigation."
He added that he would like to see
"as much pressure as possible to get rid of "
referral fees. [except to trades unions that fund his party -
EO]
Chief executive of the Law Society Desmond Hudson said the
time was right for the Regulation Board to look again at the
issue of referral fees. It is understood that the board is considering
imposing a ban or toughening up legislation.
Mark Lampkin says he is delighted the issue is now being discussed
at such a high level.
He said:
"It's important to spread the word about this scandal.
The average costs agreed for handling, say, a simple whiplash
injury case is £1,200. Yet I have heard of incidents where
solicitors have paid up to £825 for a referral, leaving
just £375 to fight a case. What sort of service is a client
going to get for that?"
With referrals banned, says Mark, drivers who have been unlucky
enough to become involved in an RTA will be guaranteed a decent
legal service and value for money.
He stresses, however, that taxi drivers already have it in
their power to avoid the scam.
"Please remember you have a choice," he said.
"You don't have to let the costs you're entitled to get
chopped up by referral fees. Miss out all the middle men. Don't
phone your insurers first. Get straight on to the solicitor of
your choice and get the service you deserve."
[note: there is a law that pre-paid insurers can insist your
case is assessed by a panel solicitor, then allow you to change
if you want.]
For more information on RTA110, please visit www.rta110.com
About RTA110
RTA110 is a branch of Lampkin & Co Solicitors, based in Ewloe,
Flintshire. The firm specialises in personal injury claims, and
employs dedicated teams devoted to claims from professional drivers
and motorcyclists. RTA110 was launched in 2006 to buck the trend
for cost-cutting services diluted by referral fees. RTA110 offers
a 110% legal service to clients injured in an accident that wasn't
their fault. For more information contact Mark Lampkin on 08081
782110, e mail mark at lampkin - co -dot - uk or visit www.rta110.com
###
Press Contact Information
RTA110
mark at lampkinco do co dot uk
08081782110
Source URL: http://www.lampkin-solicitors.co.uk/
A related site, http://www.accident110.co.uk/knowyourfacts.htm,
states this
Know Your Facts and don't get short changed.
- No matter what you may be told, you can choose which solicitor
you use to claim compensation and your insurance will not be
affected.
- Insurance companies, trade unions and claims companies
make enormous profits by selling client claims (frequently for
£1,000). This means the solicitor who buys it can not
afford to spend the necessary time to fight the case and will
settle on the first offer – this often costs the injured
thousands of pounds and does not reflect the severity and inconvenience
of the incident.
- Contrary to recent media coverage, the UK is not a nation
of “compensation vultures”. In fact, the majority of
people do not claim compensation because of the stigma.
- Insurance Companies like us to believe we are nation of “compensation
vultures” to justify increased premiums and reduce the number
of claims made.
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