"THE leader of Scotland's trade union movement was yesterday suspended on full pay, with its general council citing a duty of care to him and also to other staff as the reason for the move. Bill Speirs, who has been general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress for the past seven years, and a leading figure in the Labour movement for more than 25, last night claimed his colleagues had failed to inform him of the highly unusual suspension before The Herald contacted him.The 53-year-old said he was subsequently told: "It is not a disciplinary matter, rather a question of duty of care."Speaking at his terraced home in the south side of Glasgow, Mr Speirs said he had been off work ill for the past three weeks. He said: "I have been under a good deal of stress lately because of the pressure of work, and I am hoping to have some kind of stress management programme in place when I get back."The workload has increased tremendously over the past few years because of the increased membership, demands on the political side arising from devolution, and the STUC's move to a new headquarters . . . I have had 117 evening meetings in the past year."According to colleagues, Mr Speirs has occasionally been off work with health problems throughout this year, and made a phased return during the summer. But he had not recovered, and general council members said they were forced into the extreme measure of suspending an unwell employee with great regret."
Mr Spiers always struck this observer as one of the more engaging characters on the Scottish political scene, and we hope he gets better soon.
But there is something strange about this tale. Why would the Council of the STUC formally suspend one of their employees instead of simply telling him to take a couple of months of sick leave?
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