RAILWAYMAN REINSTATED

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33649, 26 September 1974, Page 16

RAILWAYMAN REINSTATED

A railwayman whose dismissal provoked a stoppage which brought the Canterbury branch of the National Union of Railwaymen to the brink of deregistration has been reinstated.

The reinstatement was made by the Railways Appeal Board, a tribunal of three chaired by a magistrate, a:id is subject to several conditions. The railwayman concerned. a shunter with 13* years experience, had been dismissed for “serious misconduct” connected with the derailment of some waggons. When he was dismissed in July, 70 shunters stopped work and, rejecting the ap-i pea! board, demanded his immediate reinstatement. The then Minister of Railways (Mr MfcGuigani asked the Minister of Labour (Mr Watt) “to initiate deregistration action” against the branch, which has 850 members. Mr McGuigan also made a memorable television appearance in which he denounced "troublemakers” within the union. ,

In the face of the threat, the union backed down and the railwayman went to the appeal board. The appeal was heard last month, taking about four days.. A national union representative appeared for the railwayman. The decision given yesterday is a document of more than 10 pages. Conditions in it mean that the railwayman concerned cannot work in his former position. He has been offered a job in another local yard, which he has not yet accepted. He will consult his advocate this morning.