The Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union’s communication’s
office has been thrown into disarray with the recent departure of its
communications head Miles Webber and the loss of public affairs manager
Lee Whitehead.
Webber left last week and has yet to finalise details of his next job
which is understood to be a private sector role. Whitehead left in
October to join Fishburn Hedges as a consultant within its public
affairs practice.
Richard O’ Brien, the last remaining senior communications manager, has
seen his responsibilities grow from a press office management role to
acting head of media strategy. He is also overseeing the communications
team which now numbers seven, down from a full-strength of 11.
Prior to the shake-up all three of the top managers reported to general
secretary Roger Lyons, who is now set to conduct a review of the
communications structure within the union. It has not yet been confirmed
what role O’Brien will take on within the revamped comms department.
The union looks set for a further shake up in the medium term as a
merger with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union which is
believed to be on the cards would form a joint entity with 1.2 million
members on completion.
