请输入您要查询的百科知识：

　

词条 Len McCluskey
释义

  1. Early life

  2. Early trade union activism

  3. General Secretary of Unite

     2010 and 2013 Unite election  Relations with Ed Miliband  2015 and 2016 Labour leadership elections  2017 re-election as General Secretary 

  4. Personal life

  5. References

  6. External links

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Len McCluskey
| office = General Secretary of Unite the Union
| image = File:Len McCluskey, 2016 Labour Party Conference 2.jpg
| caption = Len McCluskey at 2016 Labour Party Conference
| predecessor = Derek Simpson
Tony Woodley
| successor =
| footnotes =
| signature =
| party = Labour
| birth_name = Leonard David McCluskey
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|7|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Liverpool, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| spouse = Divorced
| partner =
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Trade unionist
| profession =
| website =
| honorific-prefix =
| term_start = 1 January 2011
| term_end =
| religion =
}}

Leonard David McCluskey (born 23 July 1950) is a British trade unionist. He is General Secretary of Unite the Union, the largest affiliate and a major donor to the Labour Party.[1] As a young adult, he spent some years working in the Liverpool Docks for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company[2] prior to becoming a full-time union official for the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&GWU) in 1979.

McCluskey was elected as the general secretary of Unite in 2010, and was re-elected to his post in 2013 and 2017. He has been a prominent backer and supporter of Jeremy Corbyn who, since September 2015, has been the leader of the Labour Party.

Early life

McCluskey was born in north Liverpool the son of a painter-decorator, after whom he was named, and Peggy, who politically inspired her son.[2] He failed the 11-plus, but passed the 13-plus, intended for late developers.[3] A Catholic,[3] he attended the Cardinal Godfrey School in Anfield.[4] Leaving school with 3 A-levels, he began his working life on the Canada Dock, part of the Port of Liverpool.[3]

Employed by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company from 1972) as a ship’s planner, he drew maps indicating the location of cargo in the hold so it could be retrieved at the unloading port.[3] He worked for the company for 11 years.[5]

Early trade union activism

McCluskey joined the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&GWU) in 1968, and became a shop steward for the union the following year.[6] He was involved in unionising the white collar staff in the Liverpool docks among whom previously there had been an absence of trade union organisation.[2] After joining the Labour Party in 1970,[5] he became an officer of the T&GWU in Merseyside in 1979 and was its campaign organiser throughout the 1980s.[6]

During the decade he became a close friend of Tony Mulhearn and Derek Hatton, then deputy leader of Liverpool City Council, and supported the Militant tendency. "I would never, ever deny that", he told the Liverpool Echo in 2009 "but I never became a member". He added: "In the end I decided that Militant was too sectarian from a political standpoint to be effective. But I believe that on the chief issues they were right".[5]

McCluskey was elected as the National Secretary of the T&GWU General Workers group in 1990, and moved to London to work in the union's national headquarters.[15]

In 2004, he became the T&GWU's national organiser for the service industries.[7][8] In 2007, he was appointed as the Assistant General Secretary for Industrial Strategy of the Unite the Union, a merger of the T&GWU and Amicus.[7]

He defines himself as being on the left of the union, and has been given the label of "Red Len" in the British press because of his involvement in Unite's dispute with British Airways.[9] In a speech at the 2010 Durham Miners' Gala he said political developments in Cuba and Venezuela should be better known, and suggested the reason they were not was because of "the fear of the good example".[10]

However, in March 2012 the industrial correspondent of the Press Association, Alan Jones, distinguished McCluskey during the BA dispute from the former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) leader Arthur Scargill: "I think he's more willing to cut a deal".[2] Labour politician Jon Trickett told George Eaton in 2016: "He got to the top through force of personality, intellect and organising skill".[1] He expressed regret in 2009, and again in 2011, that the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown did not reverse the legislative changes affecting trade unions of the immediately preceding Conservative governments.[5][11] He argued in June 2016, that the changes made by those governments have "left the lowest paid and the most vulnerable workers in our society in dire straits".[12][13]

Unite and McCluskey backed Ed Miliband to become the next Labour leader in 2010.[11] The combined union votes of Unite, plus Unison and the GMB, were enough for Miliband to be elected leader over the preference for his brother, David Miliband, of party members and MPs in the electoral college (by then 33% each) which was in force at the time.[14][15]

General Secretary of Unite

2010 and 2013 Unite election

In 2010, McCluskey ran for election as General Secretary of Unite to replace joint-General Secretaries Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, who had both announced their retirement. On 21 November 2010, it was announced that McCluskey had been elected to the post.[7] He gained 101,000 votes in a total 16% turnout of around 1.5 million members.[16]

Derek Simpson retired in December 2010, and Tony Woodley followed shortly after that, leaving McCluskey to take office as the General Secretary on 1 January 2011.[9] In December 2010, McCluskey wrote in The Guardian that "there is no case for cuts at all", the government's "austerity frenzy" being "whipped up for explicitly ideological reasons" to complete "Thatcherism's unfinished business by strangling the welfare state".[17]

In 2013, McCluskey announced that he would be running for re-election as General Secretary.[18] He was re-elected in April 2013 with 144,570 votes against Jerry Hicks 79,819 votes on a turnout of 15.2%.[19]

It was reported in September 2013 that Hicks had made an official complaint to the trade union watchdog, the certification officer, that the result should be declared void as 156,000 ballot papers had been sent to people no longer paying union subscriptions. However, he union was obliged by law to give them a vote (very few actually voted).[20]

Relations with Ed Miliband

In an April 2013 interview for the New Statesman, McCluskey urged Miliband to drop three "Blairite" shadow ministers from his frontbench team.[14] A spokesman for Miliband said McCluskey did not speak for the party and the "attempt to divide the Labour Party is reprehensible" and was "disloyal to the party".[21]

In July 2013, an alleged vote rigging scandal in the Falkirk constituency became publicly known. A consultation over an all-women shortlist was abandoned over fears not all members had received it.[22] This was thought suspicious because Unite's preferred candidate was Karie Murphy. Meanwhile, Unite had paid for scores of people to join the Labour Party in line with the union's political strategy agreed by its executive council. Miliband called in the police to investigate if anything illegal had occurred in Falkirk.[23]

The police investigation was dropped in July. Murphy dropped out as a potential candidate in September 2013,[24] and the Labour Party investigation and report found that there had been no wrongdoing. Charges against Murphy and the CLP's chairman Stevie Deans were dismissed.[25]

McCluskey threatened to disaffiliate Unite from Labour and launch a new workers' party in March 2014 if Labour lost the 2015 general election,[26] which would be enough for Labour to cease to exist in its current form, according to Jim Pickard of the Financial Times.[15] Following Labour's electoral defeat, he found fault with the party's policy proposals which he thought were "not particularly radical" and believed the party had fallen "for the Tories’ austerity trap".[27]

2015 and 2016 Labour leadership elections

During the 2015 Labour leadership election, Unite and McCluskey advocated support for Jeremy Corbyn's candidacy,[28] later reasserted by McCluskey when some senior figures in the union wanted to support Andy Burnham.[29] According to George Eaton of the New Statesman, McCluskey was thought privately to share this view (which was denied by McCluskey, who was always a Corbyn supporter). Office space was supplied to Corbyn's campaign [1] and by March 2018, Unite had donated £11 million to the Labour Party since Corbyn became leader.[30]

McCluskey later termed the events of June and July 2016 concerning Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party as a "crazy vote of no confidence, this mass resignation" and "this coup attempt" in an interview with Decca Aitkenhead of The Guardian.[31]

2017 re-election as General Secretary

In December 2016, McCluskey resigned as General Secretary and stood again in a leadership election.[32] McCluskey's main challenger was Gerard Coyne, then Unite's organiser in the West Midlands.[33] McCluskey was re-elected in April 2017 by less than 6,000 votes over Coyne; 59,067 votes (45.4%) to Coyne's 53,544 (41.5%) on a turnout of 12.2%. The other candidate was Ian Allinson who received 17,143 votes (13.1%).[34][35] An investigation into Coyne's actions during the election, led by Andrew Murray, the union's chief of staff, resulted in Coyne being fired for the misuse of data in June 2017.[36] Coyne's subsequent complaint to the Trades Union Certification Officer was dismissed on all ten counts, and the officer found that Coyne had included misleading information in some of his election literature.[37]

Personal life

McCluskey was married to Ann for more than 20 years; the couple had a son.[10][38] After moving to London as part of the T&GWU national operation, McCluskey had a child with Jennie Formby in 1991; both names are listed on the birth certificate.[39] From 1994, McCluskey lived with Paula Lace, now Williams, with whom he had a daughter.[6] He married Alicia in 2007 and they divorced in 2018.

References

1. ^1 2 {{cite news|last=Eaton|first=George|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/07/len-mccluskey-profile-labours-kingmaker|title=Len McCluskey profile: Labour's kingmaker|work=New Statesman|date=13 July 2016|accessdate=27 February 2018}}
2. ^1 2 3 {{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17591959|title=Profile: Len McCluskey, Unite leader|work=BBC News|date=6 December 2016|accessdate=27 February 2018}}
3. ^1 2 3 {{cite news|last=McAskill|first=Ewen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/08/len-mccluskey-unite-leader-contest-corbyn-conservatives|title=Len McCluskey: 'If Labour is divided, we’re in trouble. Give Jeremy a chance'|work=The Guardian|date=7 April 2017|accessdate=28 February 2018}}
4. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2010/11/22/len-mccluskey-voted-new-leader-of-unite-union-100252-27689899/ |title=Len McCluskey voted new leader of trade union Unite |work=Liverpool Echo |date=22 November 2010|accessdate=27 February 2018}}
5. ^1 2 3 {{cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-life/liverpool-lifestyle/2009/12/18/ian-hernon-speaks-to-union-leader-and-ex-liverpool-docker-len-mccluskey-100252-25418593/|title=Ian Hernon speaks to union leader and ex-Liverpool docker Len McCluskey|last=Hernon|first=Ian|date=18 December 2009|work=Liverpool Echo|accessdate=21 November 2010}}
6. ^1 2 {{cite news|last=MacIntyre|first=Donald|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/why-len-mccluskey-made-ed-miliband-see-red-8691111.html|title=Why Len McCluskey made Ed Miliband see red|work=The Independent|date=5 July 2013|accessdate=28 February 2018}}
7. ^1 2 3 {{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11805884|title=Len McCluskey chosen as new Unite leader|work=BBC News|date=21 November 2010|accessdate=21 November 2010}}
8. ^{{cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2010/10/25/city-trade-union-stalwart-len-mccluskey-in-running-for-top-unite-job-100252-27535426/|title=City trade union stalwart Len McCluskey in running for top Unite job|last=Waddington|first=Marc|date=25 October 2010|work=Liverpool Echo|accessdate=21 November 2010}}
9. ^1 {{cite news|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2010/09/union-trade-mccluskey|title=Len McCluskey: Burning desire|last=Mann|first=Emily|date=13 September 2010|work=New Statesman|accessdate=21 November 2010}}
10. ^1 {{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/7488359/British-Airways-strike-The-rise-of-Red-Len-McCluskey.html|title=British Airways strike: The rise of 'Red' Len McCluskey|last=Gilligan|first=Andrew|date=20 March 2010|work=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=27 February 2018}}
11. ^1 {{cite news|last=McSmith|first=Andy|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/len-mccluskey-union-man-who-wants-to-unite-the-nation-against-cuts-2261428.html|title=Len McCluskey: Union man who wants to unite the nation against cuts|work=The Independent|date=3 April 2011|accessdate=2 March 2018}}
12. ^{{cite journal|last=Cross|first=Ciaran|url=http://www.ier.org.uk/sites/ier.org.uk/files/inteuniorigh.23.1.10.pdf|title=Starting from Scratch: A Manifesto for UK Labour Law|work=International Union Rights|publisher=International Centre for Trade Union Rights|volume=23|issue=2|year=2016|page=10}}
13. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.ier.org.uk/news/len-mccluskey-we-support-ier%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cgenuine-alternative%E2%80%9D-uk-labour-laws|title=Len McCluskey: We support IER’s "genuine alternative" for UK labour laws|website=Institute for Employment Rights|date=24 June 2016|accessdate=5 March 2018}}
14. ^1 {{cite news|last=Eaton|first=George|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/politics/2013/04/len-mccluskey-if-ed-miliband-seduced-blairites-hell-be-defeated|title=Len McCluskey: If Ed Miliband is seduced by the Blairites, he'll be defeated|work=New Statesman|date=24 April 2013|accessdate=11 March 2018}}
15. ^1 {{cite news|last=Pickard|first=Jim|url=https://www.ft.com/content/fc0cb452-fd39-11e4-9e96-00144feabdc0|title=Q&A: Is Len McCluskey Labour’s kingmaker?|date=18 May 2015|accessdate=11 March 2018}}
16. ^{{cite news|last1=Milmo|first1=Dan|last2=Wintour|first2=Patrick|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/24/unite-len-mccluskey-british-airways-negotiations|title=Incoming Unite boss Len McCluskey urges BA to resume negotiations|date=24 November 2010|accessdate=21 March 2018}}
17. ^{{cite news|last=McCluskey|first=Len|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/19/unions-students-strike-fight-cuts|title=Unions, get set for battle|work=The Guardian|date=19 December 2010|accessdate=27 February 2018}}
18. ^{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.unite4len.co.uk/re-elect-len-mccluskey/ |title=Re-elect Len McCluskey - Unite 4 Len - Len McCluskey for Unite General Secretary |publisher=Unite 4 Len |date= |accessdate=11 July 2013}}
19. ^{{cite news|url=http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/lenmccluskeyreelectedasunitegeneralsecretary/|title=Len McCluskey re-elected as Unite general secretary|work=Unite the Union|date=14 April 2013|accessdate=21 March 2018}}
20. ^{{cite news|last=Ramesh|first=Randeep|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/09/len-mcluskey-rival-unite-election|title=Len McCluskey rival calls for Unite leadership election result to be annulled|work=The Guardian|date=9 September 2013|accessdate=27 February 2018}}
21. ^{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Tim|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/10016469/Ed-Miliband-attacks-disloyal-Len-McCluskey-for-dividing-Labour.html|title=Ed Miliband attacks 'disloyal' Len McCluskey for dividing Labour|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=24 April 2013|accessdate=11 March 2018}}
22. ^{{cite news|last=Sylvester|first=Rachel|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/does-len-mccluskey-or-ed-miliband-run-labour-cqhdbwhkftp|title=Does Len McCluskey or Ed Miliband run Labour?|work=The Times|date=2 July 2013|accessdate=11 March 2018}} {{subscription required}}
23. ^{{cite news|last=Howarth|first=Angus|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/falkirk-labour-call-in-police-over-rigging-claim-1-2991120|title=Falkirk: Labour call in police over rigging claim|work=The Scotsman|date=4 July 2013|accessdate=11 March 2018}}
24. ^{{cite news|last=Syal|first=Rajeev|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/06/karie-murphy-labour-candidate-falkirk|title=Karie Murphy withdraws as Labour candidate for Falkirk after union row|work=The Guardian|date=6 September 2013|accessdate=8 March 2018}}
25. ^{{cite news|last=Wintour|first=Patrick|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/08/unite-union-falkirk-len-mccluskey|title=Unite chief: union has been vindicated over Falkirk vote-rigging claims|work=The Guardian|date=8 September 2013|accessdate=8 March 2018}}
26. ^{{cite news|last=McSmith|first=Andy|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/unite-union-boss-len-mccluskey-threatens-to-launch-party-to-rival-labour-9231266.html|title=Unite union boss Len McCluskey threatens to launch party to rival Labour|date=1 April 2014|work=The Independent|accessdate=2 April 2014}}
27. ^{{cite news|last=Gilligan|first=Andrew|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11610561/How-Unites-Len-McCluskey-became-Labour-Party-puppet-master.html|title=How Unite's Len McCluskey became Labour Party puppet master|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=16 May 2015|accessdate=27 February 2018}}
28. ^{{cite news |last=Syal|first=Rajeev|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/05/jeremy-corbyn-backing-unite-labour-leadership-race|title=Jeremy Corbyn gets backing of Unite in Labour leadership race|work=The Guardian|date=5 July 2015|accessdate=26 February 2018}}
29. ^{{cite news|last=Mason|first=Rowena|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/20/unite-boss-reiterates-support-for-corbyn-after-union-officials-back-burnham|title=Unite boss reiterates support for Corbyn after union officials back Burnham|work=The Guardian|date=20 August 2015|accessdate=26 February 2018}}
30. ^{{cite news|last1=Eaton|first1=George|last2=Wilby|first2=Peter|last3=Bush|first3=Stephen|last4=Maguire|first4=Kevin|last5=Chakelian|first5=Anoosh|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/03/meaning-corbynism|title=The meaning of Corbynism|work=New Statesman|date=5 March 2018|accessdate=6 March 2018}}
31. ^{{cite news|last=Aitkenhead|first=Decca|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/22/len-mccluskey-whos-going-to-be-the-king-which-ones-corbyn-and-which-ones-us|title=Len McCluskey: ‘Who’s going to be the king? Which one’s Corbyn, and which one’s us?’|work=The Guardian|date=22 July 2016|accessdate=26 February 2018}}
32. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/06/len-mccluskey-resigns-unite-general-secretary-run-again-leadership|title=Len McCluskey resigns as head of Unite but will run again for leadership |last=Syal |first=Rajeev|work=The Guardian|date=6 December 2016|access-date=17 February 2017 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
33. ^{{cite news|last=McAskill|first=Ewen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/25/unite-union-wasted-money-labour-leadership-gerard-coyne|title=Unite union 'wasted cash on Labour leadership vote'|work=The Guardian|date=25 February 2017|accessdate=26 February 2018}}
34. ^{{cite news|last=Syal|first=Rajeev|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/21/len-mccluskey-re-elected-leader-of-unite-union-jeremy-corbyn|title=Len McCluskey re-elected leader of Unite by narrow margin|work=The Guardian|date=21 April 2017|accessdate=27 March 2018}}
35. ^{{Cite web |url=http://www.unitetheunion.org/news/unite-announces-general-secretary-election-result/ |title=Unite announces general secretary election result |publisher=Unite the Union |date=21 April 2017}}
36. ^{{cite news|last=Syal|first=Rajeev|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/20/unite-official-gerard-coyne-who-lost-to-len-mccluskey-in-leadership-race-sacked|title=Unite official who lost to Len McCluskey in leadership race 'sacked'|work=The Guardian|date=20 June 2017|accessdate=26 February 2018}}
37. ^{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/06/len-mccluskey-complaints-dismissed-by-union-watchdog |title=Len McCluskey complaints dismissed by union watchdog |last=Busby |first=Mattha |newspaper=The Guardian |date=6 October 2018 |accessdate=8 October 2018}}
38. ^{{cite web|last1=Walters|first1=Simon|last2=Owen|first2=Glen|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2371813/Mother-union-boss-love-child-fixes-MPs-Labour-New-scandal-McCluskey-gives-75-000-year-key-role-ex-mistress.html|title=Mother of union boss love child fixes MPs for Labour|work=The Mail on Sunday|date=21 July 2013|accessdate=21 July 2013}}
39. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/love-child-link-of-unions-top-brass-x3mhxll5qzm|title=Love child link of union’s top brass|last=Grew|first=Tony|date=21 July 2013|work=The Sunday Times|accessdate=28 February 2018}} {{subscription required}}

External links

  • [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/len-mccluskey Articles by McCluskey in The Guardian]
{{S-start}}{{S-npo}}{{succession box|title=Secretary of the General Workers Trade Group of the Transport and General Workers' Union|years=1990–2004|before=Peter Evans|after=?}}{{S-bef|before=Derek Simpson
Tony Woodley}}{{S-ttl|title=General Secretary of Unite|years=2011–present}}{{S-incumbent}}{{S-end}}{{UK Labour Party}}{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccluskey, Len}}

6 : 1950 births|Living people|General Secretaries of Unite the Union|People from Liverpool|Labour Party (UK) people|Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress
随便看

　

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识，基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识，是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

　

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间：2024/9/22 17:18:05