MUPPET OF THE WEEK? - Dave Prentis

I'd like to nominate Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, the biggest trade union in the UK, as a contender for "Muppet of the Week". After all, he's had a stinker.

Not only did his hopes of bringing the nation to its knees on Wednesday, with the strikes that got minimal support from UNISON members let alone the rest of the population, he then went on to make a big fuss about a joke made by Jeremy Clarkson on The One Show that has spectacularly backfired (clearly he hadn't watched while clip because if he had he would have seen it was a joke about balanced journalism on the BBC and Clarkson makes it clear he presented two contrasting opinions, not his own). Still, Prentis in his wisdom (lol) threatened legal action against Clarkson and wanted him sacked by the BBC.

Comrade Prentis gets paid nearly £100k a year for leading UNISON through gaffes like that, plus various benefits, expenses and generous pension and, while encouraging the low-paid to give up a day's pay just before Christmas, Prentis won't, of course, have lost a penny of wages.

Surely there's no one else who's had a worst week?

Still, things could get worse for Prentis, maybe his members will realise embarrassing them twice in one week doesn't justify such a huge salary and get rid of this Calamity Jane.

OPINION: Clarkson, UNISON and over-reacting

UNISON, the already dis-credited trade union after their "damp squib" support for the November 30th strikes, is now threatening to sue Jeremy Clarkson because of comments he made on the BBC's early evening magazine show, The One Show.

Jeremy Clarkson has always taken on the role of the rieght wing, anti-environment, blokey pantomime villain - it may have been an ill-advised, badly-timed comment but it is clearly said with humour. And it is free speech!



UNISON have little credibility left. Yesterday, and at other marches and protests earlier in the year, members of UNISON and other unions will all have chanted together phrases like "Hang the bankers" or "Shoot the Tories" - I do hope that UNISON's leadership will be reporting every single one of them for inciting violence. or is that not the point?

No, it's idiotic, intellectual pygmies that are union leaders with too much money to spend, desperately seeking publicity for their lost cause.

If any UNISON members watched the whole interview, I'm guessing most who have been so vocal in their complaints haven't seen the whole interview, they will see it was a joke about the need to have balance on BBC programmes. But that would get in the way of a good story wouldn't it? Facts and truth - not things modern unions dabble with.

It's time that unions, like UNISON, were brought into line with mainstream society and not in the hands of dangerous extremists and fat cats who benefit by causing national strife.

Clarkson says things and it gets publicity. Get over it. Or are the unions now anti-free speech and lacking any sense of humour?

COMMENT: So what did the strikes achieve?

While the UK is very divided about today's strikes, now that they're mostly over, what exactly did they achieve?

Will the unions have changed the minds of the government? Almost certainly not. In fact, it is more likely that the government will be more entrenched and, if they are good to their word, the improved offer of a couple of weeks ago will be retracted.

Will the unions have picked up more support from the public? There may be some who, while they were unable to work today because the place they work was shut due to industrial action, will have additionally joined the protests but there is no appetite for strikes: not only was there a tiny turnout in most union ballots, but many union members continued to work today and didn't join the action (County Hall in Derbyshire was working totally normally from what I could see). The unions will have caused great problems to man today, disruption, schools closed, child care, etc. Many who were undecided will have, I suspect, found themselves leaning more towards the government position because of the intransigence of the unions and the problems their actions caused.

Will the strikers feel they have achieved something? Not when, in the cold light of day they see the government have not been persuaded, the general public has not been persuaded and, a few days Beirne Christmas, their pay slip comes through with a day's less salary than normal.

Was it worth it? Absolutely not. talks are continuing. If the union leaders are so convinced the government isn't genuinely negotiating they should withdraw from the talks. While talks continue no strike should ever have been called. People were told it was about pensions, but today the union leaders kept mentioning bankers, Tobin taxes and other issues. Occupy London briefly "occupied" a building n London's Haymarket as a general anti-capitalist protest. the truth is, today's strikes and marches were about being anti the current government; the unions lied to try to get more people on board, making out it was about pensions - it never really was. THAT was misleading and shows how little the fat cat union leaders (many of whom earn well in excess of £100k and have benefits like free houses for life) really care for their members. Today was all about politics. Today was all about the extremist left making its voice heard whilst conning the British public. The numbers show that few support them - low ballot turnout, low numbers striking.

The strikes were so idiotic and badly organised they were unable to even get backing from the Labour Party leadership. What bigger sign of failure does anyone need?

It's now time for the government to act to restrict further co-ordinated political protests masquerading as strikes. Today the unions killed their own argument and shot the British public in the foot.

Today achieved absolutely nothing. Strikes, in Western society, are a failure of unions at best and, like today, simply a con.

Unions need to get back to genuinely representing workers when it is needed and stop playing at politics and trying to overthrow governments.