The M&E union Amicus has appointed Bob Pagan, already a senior official, to head its construction division. He will replace Paul Corby who took voluntary redundancy in May.

Pagan, who is the Joint Industry Board national officer for plumbing, will assume the post of national construction officer with immediate effect.

Tom Hardacre, who had been acting construction officer since Corby鈥檚 departure, will become Pagan鈥檚 right hand man.

Pagan said he planned to push ahead for Heathrow Terminal 5-style agreements on other major projects, including the Olympics and large hospital schemes. He said: 鈥淚 will be looking to expand the agreements used on Heathrow across to other schemes. My priorities will be agreements for the Olympics and hospital projects, and I will also continue Amicus鈥� work to make sure appropriate agreements are in place on schemes such as Wembley and T5.鈥�

Pagan added that he looked forward to using the experience gained as national officer for the Joint Industry Board, a position he will retain, in a wider construction role. He said: 鈥淚 am looking forward to continuing working with Amicus鈥� construction members, and with my lead officer Tom Hardacre, to take the union views forward in the industry.鈥�

My priorities will be agreements for the Olympics and hospital projects

Bob Pagan, national construction officer, Amicus

The role of construction officer has been the subject of contention within the union since Corby鈥檚 departure in May. Many union members were unhappy with the decision to appoint an official rather than hold an election.

Amicus has also appointed one of its assistant general secretaries to oversee the union鈥檚 strategy on Olympic projects. A source at the union said Amicus wanted early agreements on projects, and hoped to attract between 9000 and 10,000 members as a result of the schemes.