Pressure mounts on Blair ally to quit as Amicus head

Tony Blair's favourite trade unionist came under intense pressure yesterday to abandon his attempt to remain in his jobwhen his co-leader demanded he quit.

Roger Lyons, the joint general secretary of Amicus, said Sir Ken Jackson should accept the result and allow the elected left winger to take over.

Mr Lyons told The Independent: "In the interests of Amicus and the wider union movement, it is better that Sir Ken accepts the decision of the members and leaves the field with dignity."

It was the first time that Mr Lyons had called for Sir Ken's departure and will make it extremely difficult for the right-winger to remain.

Despite threats of legal action from the victor, Sir Ken was insisting earlier yesterday that the poll won by the former Communist Derek Simpson should be declared null and void because the exposure – by The Independent – of ballot-rigging had undermined his support. Sir Ken claimed that he had submitted official complaints about the damaging nature of the press coverage before the election result was declared. One source at the union argued that the stated grounds for objecting to the poll result would be "laughed out of court if they ever reach there".

Mr Lyons said no formal complaints had been made by Sir Ken before the count and they could not be made legitimately afterwards.

As Sir Ken prepared to fly to Spain on holiday, it was not clear whether he intended to cite other irregularities when he returned. Some of Sir Ken's own supporters were expressing embarrassment over the situation yesterday and joined Downing Street sources in calling for him to step down.

While the election of Mr Simpson was considered something of a disaster by No 10, the Prime Minister's aides also wanted to draw a line under what has become a highly damaging political farce.

Mr Simpson said Sir Ken was discrediting the union as well as himself and called on the veteran to accept that he had been defeated.

Mr Simpson said: "I would prefer the executive to make a decision to accept the democratic process of the union. If they are not capable of doing that, we will have to take them down another route. The executive should now meet and endorse the ballot result." Sir Ken was initially declared the narrow winner, but four recounts gave the result to the left-winger.

Some sources said supporters on the executive of the AEEU section of Amicus had persuaded Sir Ken, against his better judgement, to call for a fresh ballot. An attempt by the executive on Thursday to order a new vote was made impossible when six left wingers walked out, rendering the meeting inquorate.

Sir Ken pointed out yesterday that the ruling committee had investigated allegations by Mr Simpson that the nominating process had been rigged, and now he wanted it to discuss his own complaints about the effect of press coverage.

The returning officer's report said of Sir Ken's complaint that " in the light of the very close vote in the ballot, the result may have been affected to his detriment by the irregularities in obtaining branch nominations and the publicity relating thereto".

Strike bound - workers in dispute

Council workers

Hopes rose last night of averting fresh industrial action by a million local authority employees even though two more dates were set for strikes.

Unless there is a breakthrough next week, staff ranging from refuse collectors to social workers will walk out on 14 August and again in September. However, union leaders welcomed an offer of talks and a two- or three-year pay deal. Unions want a rise of 6 per cent, but employers say they can afford no more than 3 per cent.

Airport workers

Workers at Manchester airport are to stage a two-hour strike today in a long-running dispute over jobs. Members of the Transport and General Workers' Union will also walk out for two hours on 30 July and 3 August.

But threats of disruption to holiday charter flights from Gatwick and other airports receded after Aviance, which employs baggage handlers and check-in staff, tabled a fresh pay offer to members of the GMB general union.

Railway workers

The train drivers' union Aslef has called three 48-hour strikes at First North Western as part of a campaign for a substantial wage rise. Aslef points out that the drivers earn less than £24,000 a year compared with £28,000 for colleagues at Arriva Trains Northern, which recently raised pay by 18 per cent. The stoppages form part of a campaign by Aslef to play off one train operator against another, boosting drivers' pay.

Tens of thousands of commuters at Arriva Trains Northern face a series of strikes over the next six months. The RMT union has called nine more day-long stoppages by conductors who have staged 14 walkouts in protest at a 4 per cent offer.

A day-long strike by London Underground workers over safety brought chaos on Thursday. The RMT will decide next week whether to strike again.

Firefighters

A dispute involving the Fire Brigades' Union looks set to loom large over the annual conference of the Trades Union Congress and the Labour Party conference in September.

Firefighters are demanding a 40 per cent pay rise, which would put them on £30,0000 a year. They are also demanding a new automatic pay system to replace a mechanism won in 1977-78 after a seven-week stoppage – the only time firefighters have staged a national strike.