Madam, – It is a recurring canard that union membership on the boards of key agencies in the financial services and regulation implicates trade union leaders in the bad decisions these bodies made.
Several points need to be made here in the interest of clear and open debate. Those of us who have more than a limited acquaintance with corporate governance know that habitually a body depends on four actors to ensure it runs honestly and properly. These are: the CEO; internal audit and the audit committee; external audit; and the board.
The board, while having considerable power to act if problems are identified, is almost totally dependent on the other three actors for the necessary information to enable it to act. To this extent, it is the weakest of the four key actors. The CEO is incomparably the strongest.
The union board members are usually isolated in a sea of apparatchiks of the financial services industry.
Last but not least, boards are supposed to comprise a range of views of expertise and experience. A trade unionist brings knowledge of say industrial relations, worker participation, health and safety or labour law to a board. Only fools or knaves, could, after a moment’s reflection, assume that this expertise enables him or her to form clear views on irregularities in the absence of collegiate support from fellow board members who are economists, auditors or regulatory specialists. – Yours, etc,