What follows is a very important statement regarding the internal affairs and activities of the UDW Trade Union. It is essential that you read this statement if you are a current member or indeed are thinking of taking out membership or are retaining the services of its only official..John Ledbury. The following statements are based purely on true facts.Facts that have been asked on many occasions and in writing, of the UDW’s self appointed and unelected National Secretary & Treasurer, John Ledbury and its Executive, Allan Roberts and Dave Rawlinson. Only one person has ever replied. If you are a member you may be just a little bit concerned…
Note: John Ledbury & his daughter Claire Ledbury Jackson, whilst being assisted by Oliver 'Stole My Work' Coningham from spongenewmedia.co.uk in Yeovil, have over the last few weeks tried their damnedest to prevent the following information from being published on the World Wide Web.
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Previous webhosting companies removed this website from their servers after receiving a complaint from these individuals. Fortunately there are still many webhosting companies with a backbone who are not easily threatened or intimidated & that indeed actively promote free speech in a democracy.
This information is certainly of interest to any person who may be a member of UDW Trade Union and to any person who may be considering becoming a member. If any aspect of this website is defamatory and untruthful, Ledbury, his daughter Jackson, and his acolyte Coningham have the option of challenging it through the legal system. Either put up or shut up!
 As of 10th August 2010, employment tribunal services have accepted a claim against UDW Trade Union and its executive, for serious breaches of UK employment law. We will keep you updated of all future developments via this website.
John Kenneth Ledbury.
Unelected National Secretary & Treasurer of the new UDW Trade Union.
Oliver (The Conman) Coningham.
Ledbury is assisted by this man. Plagiarist and itellectual property thief.
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There are now only 2 UDW trade union officials one of whom is John Ledbury himself. Alan Roberts & Dave Rawlinson (now resigned) do not work directly for UDW and do not represent members anymore as they are both DHL managers. This leaves only John Ledbury to represent you if you have a problem at work! A trade union with only one untrained representative, who also happens to be the treasurer, and the national secretary?
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John Ledbury is assisted by Oliver Coningham who portrays himself as a web designer. Oliver Coningham has on several occasions taken copyrighted material from this site, and claimed the work as his own. Despite Coningham being advised regarding his theft, he has continued to use the copyrighted material in his efforts to assist Ledbury. More information about plagiarist and intellectual property thief Oliver Coningham can be found on his own appropriately named website Sponging Media. |
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The new UDW trade unions head office is in Yeovil. Or to be more precise, John Ledbury’s living room.
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The new UDW trade union has no indemnity insurance. Therefore John Ledbury is not legally qualified to give advice or advise any UK workers on any settlement they should accept, though John Ledbury is presently advertising on Coninghams website that he will charge you 10% minimum for this. Hardly reassuring is it? You really need a trained solicitor for this kind of work.
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The new UDW has no legal office or advisor that is qualified to give legal advice. (Call and ask John Ledbury on 0845 604 6212 or call his mobile on 07976 606910. Ask him for the name of his legal advisor and their address or website) Ask him to provide a copy of the UDW certificate of indemnity insurance.
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So far, there have been no elections to office and position as required in the Trade Union & Labour Relations (amended) Act 1992. This is a matter for members to vote on through an independent balloting procedure. The new UDW is presently operating without auditors, a national executive or a general secretary.
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As there are no auditors of the new UDW trade union’s accounts and no checks or balances to ensure propriety and transparency, there is no one to oversee proper spend of subscriptions. Again this is a legal requirement.
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John Ledbury has no qualification nor has he ever attended any of the recommended training courses as prescribed by Acas. Call John Ledbury at home on his so called national number on 0845 604 6212 and ask him more about qualification to represent you.
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Any communication sent by John Ledbury is in fact written by a friend, who considers himself to be a bit of a legal eagle. Skippy, as he is fondly known, fancies himself as a tough talking union official, though to date he hasn’t actually challenged any employers or represented any members. How Skippy will fare in the real world as opposed to the imaginary one remains to be seen.
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John Ledbury doesn’t like being asked about the UDW’s funds. He considers himself above any of the normal rules and a ‘bit of a maverick’. In reality he enjoys ‘sacking’ anyone who dares oppose him and refuses them the same rights that he preaches to UK employers. His favourite catchphrase is “He’s been Ledburied” when he feels he has beaten an opponent. Ledbury also enjoys boasting to impressionable workers that he is very powerful and is the top man in a big fearsome trade union. In reality he is the only person in the new UDW union and of course he has complete and unfettered control of the new UDW’s funds, courtesy of his daughter and a weak and impotent executive.
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John Ledbury likes to be paid in cash, in full, when he represents a member. No excuses! After all Ledbury is the UDW’s biggest cost and they can’t afford him (though they can afford his big state-of-the-art talking car). Whether you get an invoice though can be a bit of a hit or miss. If you run out of money before you get to your appeal hearing, you may well find yourself on your own. Just make sure you get a written, signed agreement to that effect!
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Don’t take anyone’s word for it. The following facts can be easily verified by
calling the so called UDW national number on 0845 604 6212 (your call will
not be handled by office staff, but will instead be transfered straight to
John
Ledburys living room)
Alternatively...try calling Ledburys mobile on 07976 606 910
or write directly to him at the following address:
John Ledbury, 2 Bearley Cottages, Bearley lane, Tintinhull, Yeovil, BA22 8PE
Oliver (the conman) Coningham can be contacted using the following addresses:
76 Glenthorne Avenue, Yeovil, Somerset BA21 4PW
Telephone: 07835 411983
Email: oliver@spongenewmedia.co.uk
Claire (Ledbury) Jackson can be contacted using the following email address:
claire261180@hotmail.com
UDW TRADE UNION STRUCTURE AS AT AUGUST 2010
UDW Union is currently the only UK Trade Union being run entirely by one person. John Ledbury has isolated himself, and currently controls all UDW website content, membership database, all UDW member subscriptions, and is the UDW unions only representative. There are no other UDW regional representatives. Ledbury has not even completed a standard ACAS accompanying rep training course, and has no indemnity insurance. This is a one man union and we would advise members to join a legitimate trade union urgently!
Following a number of serious concerns and questions written to John Ledbury and the executive regarding the UDW’s finances and administration, a number of people involved in the inception and servicing of the UDW and its members, were summarily dismissed by John Ledbury purely for asking those questions. The dismissals were in writing from John Ledbury with the excuse that those persons services ‘were no longer required.’ Despite a significant number of written requests for further explanation and challenges to John Ledbury’s unelected authority, no reply or explanation has ever been forthcoming. Not only has John Ledbury breached the union’s rules, but he has also acted in a hypocritical manner that betrays the deceitful conduct that he claims to challenge your employer on. Quite simply, John Ledbury sacks people who question him and procures their salary or benefits for himself.
John Ledbury is a former DHL van driver who then took up a handyman position at a retirement home in Somerset. He became a shop steward and began representing UDW members within DHL in 2005, before doing the same at the retirement home. As John Ledbury has never gained a formal qualification or received any training in the representation of employees, he eventually became the UDW’s Treasurer and book keeper.
In April 2009, the administrator organised a recruiting drive to increase membership of the UDW and to secure its future. The recruiting drive was very successful and with skilful administration and planning, the number of members steadily increased. This in turn increased the revenue coming into UDW’s bank account.
In the summer of 2009, John Ledbury left his handyman job and began representing workers who found themselves being disciplined or had grievances in the workplace. Many of these workers paid hundreds of pounds to retain the services of an official to look after and represent them throughout these procedures. Initially this was very successful and the membership continued to grow at a fast pace. An administration office was set up to promote and maintain UDW membership. Proper membership packs were sent out to current and prospective members. A helpline was established to deal with membership enquiries and free advice for those who needed representation and after 4 years of stagnant recruiting, the future of the UDW seemed secure.
In late December of 2009 it was discovered that there was very little money in the UDW’s bank account. John Ledbury as Treasurer gave assurances that all was well and that the reason that finances were so meagre was that there were accounts to pay. Throughout the year Ledbury had continually bleated that he was the UDW’s biggest cost and that the UDW couldn’t afford him. Yet Ledbury had been motoring up and down the country, collecting significant sums of money in cash from would be members every week. Where had it all gone?
In January 2010, to ensure accuracy and propriety, a new invoicing method was agreed that allowed a worker to pay for their service directly through the UDW’s bank account. The worker booked their representation and an invoice was generated by the administrator to secure that service. The invoice and payment would be entered in the UDW’s account.
In February the administrator raised further concerns regarding members being told by John Ledbury to pay their fee in cash, to him, in the street, rather than processing payments through the UDW central account. Other members complained to the helpline that John Ledbury would not support them at their appeal hearings if they could not afford any further representation. If they had been sacked they would have no money. This conduct breached the UDW policy in that they would represent a member to the appeal conclusion and any possible claim to a tribunal, only receiving payment if successful in obtaining that member’s reinstatement.
In early March 2010 it was discovered that John Ledbury had entered his daughter Claire onto the union’s chequebook as an authorising signatory. This action completely cancelled out any balances and checks to ensure propriety and accountability as prescribed in the union’s rules. No notice of this change was ever given nor was any permission sought at any time in accordance with those rules. Effectively the UDW trade union’s entire finances were now under the complete control of Ledbury and his daughter. Ledbury had also declared his intention to ‘sack’ the UDW’s chartered accountant in a casual conversation with the administrator. The accountant is another person who asks awkward questions, the accountant having previously raised concerns in the summer of 2009 regarding scrutiny and checks of payments to the UDW’s account.
On the 26th of March the general secretary contacted John Ledbury and formally requested access to the UDW’s bank account for inspection. Ledbury flatly refused this access squawking that ‘it was against the law’. This contact was hastily terminated by Ledbury stating that he was too busy to discuss the matter.
It became very clear that there may be maladministration taking place that could leave the UDW open to allegations and in the first instance a decision was taken by the general secretary to remove all contact details from the website and call an extraordinary meeting under rule to resolve these very serious matters. A request was sent to each of the members of the executive including John Ledbury and to other senior representatives. Two replied stating that ‘they did not want to be involved’. The other two remained silent.
In early April the administrator discovered that the website had been disabled and that it was now under the control of Ledbury. The administrator was subsequently sent a letter from Ledbury (on behalf of the executive) stating that the administrator’s position was unelected and was therefore no longer required. The administrator immediately challenged these actions in an open letter to Ledbury & the executive. None of them has ever replied. The administrator had designed, constructed and maintained the UDWUK.ORG website since its inception and regained control of the website and its intellectual design and content in June 2010, after a successful challenge using copyright legislation. John Ledbury then quickly purchased the domain udwuk.com and with the help of a local web designer Oliver Coningham, uploaded and attempted to claim ownership of all original UDWUK.ORG copyrighted website content. Coningham was forced when fully challenged to remove the copyrighted content from his webspace and subsequently redesigned a new page, logo and now uses the tagline 'Working Together.' This tagline is also used by GMB Trade Union and has been for many years. Coningham and Ledburys new UDW web page can be found here.
In mid April the general secretary subsequently wrote a five page letter to John Ledbury and the executive, condemning his conduct and breach of the UDW’s rules. A further request was also made for an extraordinary meeting under those rules to address the very serious matters that had taken place. No reply has ever been received to this letter.
On the 12th of May the general secretary received a letter from Ledbury, again on behalf of the UDW executive, informing him that his services were no longer required. The general secretary replied requesting a formal meeting with Ledbury and the executive, to challenge this action. Another letter was issued by Ledbury, again with the executive’s apparent knowledge and consent, stating that the general secretary was in fact a consultant only and therefore had no right of appeal, redress or explanation and that the matter was considered closed. A union official with no employment rights is extremely rare indeed.
Subsequent letters and emails requesting explanation, to John Ledbury & the UDW executive went unanswered until the 8th of July when the general secretary received an email from Dave Rawlinson (executive member) stating that he had no knowledge of the events of the past few months and that he did not wish to be involved. Dave Rawlinson formally insisted that his name be removed instantly from all UDW accounts and documents, but to date this has been ignored and his name and mobile number still appears on Coningham and Ledburys website. It is clear that without Dave’s knowledge, consent and support, John Ledbury has acted without the executive’s authority and has severely breached the UDW’s rules, the Trade Union & Labour Relations (amended) Act 1992 and current U.K employment legislation.
These matters will be addressed through the Certification Officer for trade unions and respective claims to an Employment Tribunal. (July 2010) updates will follow on this site.
Firstly, never believe everything simply because you read it here. Take time to do a little research and check the facts. Write a letter or email and make enquiries. Take the time to make a phone call to John Ledbury, his daughter Claire Jackson or Oliver Coningham and have your questions ready. The internet is a great resource for checking up on anything and keeping up to date. Don’t believe anything just because so-and-so said so. Make your own judgement based on what you have actually discovered yourself.
When you join a trade union, certain rights are conferred upon you. You should be able to contact your regional representative at any time to seek advice on your employment problems. The new UDW trade union has no regional representatives. You should be able to examine your union’s accounts with reasonable notice. You should be eligible to stand for election to any position in your union. Your union should have access to a workplace accident and injury scheme and be fully insured to give you advice regarding many of the problems that workers endure. And you should always have a copy of your union’s rules and regulations. These are not favours or gifts but statutory rights.
This was the UDW’s original intentions way back in 2005. But as usual bruised ego’s, in fighting, back-stabbing, and megalomaniacs have interfered and wrecked it all. Whether it will recover and go on to be a real and relevant union that practises what it preaches is about as likely as a sympathetic HR advisor.
If you are concerned or worried you should write in the first instance to the Trade Union Certification Officer, highlighting those concerns.
For genuine union membership visit the website of the T.U.C. (Trade Union Congress) and speak to one of their advisors who will be able to help you make the right choice.
Whatever you do; make sure you are protected at work, obtain a copy of your unions rulebook, and always assert your rights!
Note: This website is not the website of the new UDW trade union nor does it have any affiliation to the new UDW trade union or any other organisation. This website is solely for information & knowledge purposes only.
Warning to potential spongers: © 2010 UDWUK.ORG All rights reserved. Registered No: 318250. No part of this site or individual page may be published, broadcast, copied or otherwise reproduced or distributed without prior written permission.
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