[2] An employment tribunal found that he had "probably been dismissed on trade union grounds".
[3] In 2009, he stood as General Secretary of Amicus, winning 40,000 votes to the Derek Simpson's 60,000.
[4] Hicks stood in the 2010 election for the general secretary of Unite the Union and made a number of election pledges, including that he would only take the wage of an average skilled worker.
He came second with 52,527 votes, beating the two full-time assistant general secretaries who stood.
[6][7] Hicks wrote an article in support on Union Day of action including strike action by public sector workers principally on the issue of Government attack on public sector pensions.