Belfast Airport workers win unfair dismissal case

Nearly £600,000 in damages has been awarded to 22 security staff in Northern Ireland, who were sacked for going on strike for a row with their employer five years ago.

The employees who worked at Belfast Airport were dismissed by security firm ICTS after they took industrial action in a dispute over pay.

An industrial tribunal found that all 22 had suffered unfair dismissal and that four shop stewards had been discriminated against on political grounds, the BBC reports.

Solicitors will be interested in the case as steward Gordon McNeill noted: "Our case sets two important legal precedents which strengthen the hand of all trade unionists.

"The tribunal decisions in our case now establish that shop stewards can legally resume suspended strikes with no legal requirement to give any notice to employers and that any shop steward who is victimised or sacked can claim political discrimination, rather than just unfair dismissal."

However, despite calling it a "victory for all trade unions", Mr McNeill said he and three other stewards would go on a hunger strike until the Transport and General Workers' Union refunded their legal bills and a full inquiry into why it did not support them was launched.

"Unfortunately our trade union, for whatever reason, did not take the decision to take the matter on and move it forward," he explained. "We have had a battle for five years, we need answers to questions from out union as to why we were told effectively this case could not be run."

Mr NcNeill added that the stewards had been forced to pay for the case themselves, which he claims cost over £200,000.

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