Union official is branded a racist in row over 'wise monkeys' leaflet

So he used 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' in the leaflet he circulated about union bosses ignoring members' concerns.

He even included a sketch of the three wise monkeys which commonly illustrate the phrase.

The pamphlet lampooning the union committee

Unfortunately, those he targeted read the message a little differently  -  and accused him of a racist slur against a black member of their standing orders committee. Mr

Kasab, secretary of Greenwich Unison, in Greater London, is now under investigation and facing expulsion from the public sector union Unison, along with three other members of local branches.

Onay Kasab of Greenwich Unison is threatened with expulsion over his involvement with an alleged racist leaflet

The 40-year-old activist, from Bexley, South East London, said: 'It's upsetting that I am accused of racism by my own union.

'We felt it was an apt image to illustrate our point that the committee were refusing to listen to members' concerns over issues such as the funding of the Labour Party, the election of full-time officialand control over strike action.

'But in the conference hall, the Unison president denounced it as racist and when we went to respond the microphone was switched off. We have been gagged and subjected to a witchhunt.

'I am Turkish-Cypriot and have faced racism, so to be accused of being something I despise is terrible.'

The leaflet was circulated at last year's June conference in Brighton.

Mr Kasab's co-accused are Glenn Kelly, secretary of Bromley Unison, Suzanne Muna, secretary of the Housing Corporation Unison branch and Brian Debus, chairman of Hackney Unison.

All four, who are members of the Socialist Party, are awaiting a disciplinary hearing after the end of this year's conference, which is being held in Bournemouth this week.

The group are now considering legal action, such as an employment tribunal, over their treatment.

A fifth person, Matthew Waterfall, who does not belong to the Socialist Party, was investigated but not charged.

Mr Kasab said: 'The fact they cleared Mr Waterfall shows that this is motivated by the New Labour supporters in Unison against the Socialist Party.'

He added that thousands of members have signed a petition against their treatment.

The Socialist Party said the reaction was 'crazy'.

A spokesman said: 'The leaflet was about the fact that the standing orders committee ruled out something like a third of all resolutions on various grounds.

'The proverb has no racial connotations and was used by the "No" campaign in the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. It is about being ignorant of the facts.'

Unison, which represents more than a million public sector workers, yesterday refused to discuss the case in detail.

A spokesman claimed the charges against the members had been ' misrepresented'.

She added: 'There has been an investigation according to union rules and that's completed. We are in the process of going through the rest of the disciplinary process.

'We will not go into details of what allegations have been made until the process is completed.'

A BRIEF HISTORY OF A PROVERB

• The phrase 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' probably came to Japan from Buddhist legend in India and China in the 8th century. 
• The three wise monkeys are thought to have been used in Japan because of the similarity in Japanese of the negative suffix 'zaru' to 'saru', meaning monkey.
• The proverb acts as a reminder not to be nosy or gossipy but is also used today to refer to someone who turns a blind eye to the immorality of an act in which they are involved.