Supporters of suspended Transport and General Workers Union official Mr Mick O'Reilly are hopeful of his reinstatement after a strong showing by candidates sympathetic towards him in elections to its general council.
Formal results are not expected until Monday, but there may be a broad left majority on the council, including three Irish delegates who campaigned strongly on the issue of Mr O'Reilly's suspension.
These are Waterford Crystal convenor Mr Jimmy Kelly, who topped the poll in Ireland, Shorts Brothers convenor, Mr Norman Cairns, and Ms Dawn Stewart, also from Belfast, who was elected to represent the public service trade group within the union.
Mr Kelly had a one-issue campaign, which was to secure the reinstatement of Mr O'Reilly, the Irish regional secretary, and the Northern Ireland organiser, Mr Eugene McGlone. Both were suspended on full pay last June, after a detailed report by the union's deputy general secretary, Ms Margaret Prosser, into the Irish region. However the hearings into their suspensions only concluded this month.
A decision has to be made by the end of February. They can then appeal it, if they wish, to the new general council, which meets for the first time on March 4th.
Mr Kelly yesterday said he was delighted. "I asked people to elect me on that one issue and they did, because they felt there was centralised control of the union and it was not listening to members."
The elections are seen as an early indicator of a swing to the left within Britain's second-largest union. The national secretary for the car workers group within the TGWU, Mr Tony Woodley, is expected to be the left's candidate in the election for a new deputy general secretary when Ms Prosser retires next August.
While many of the new council would be sympathetic to Mr O'Reilly's plight, it remains unclear whether they would constitute a majority on the council.