Rail union liable for harm caused by strike

Press, 13 May 1986, Page 10

Rail union liable for harm caused by strike

By Robin Charteris, London Correspondent

A private citizen has won an important legal battle in Britain to make railway trade unions pay him damages for a strike which left him stranded.

Should it not be upset on appeal, the ruling early in May, could open the floodgates to claims from thousands of other commuters affected by unofficial stoppages. It could also mean that any third party affected in some way by a wildcat strike against the company with which the person has a contract can expect redress from the trade union or unions concerned.

After hearing he had won the two-day case, a Sheffield businessman, Mr Angus Falconer, aged 55, a former Royal Navy Commander, said: “This is a great day for freedom. It is a great day for the man in the street.” He added that trade unions would now think more carefully before decisions were forced on members by “tinpot administrators.”

Mr Falconer claimed damages from the British National Union of Railwaymen and the Association of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen who called a 24-

hour strike on January 17 without a ballot of members.

He had bought a return rail ticket to London for a business man meeting and to see a doctor. Because of the strike he was forced to stay in London and miss a meeting in Sheffield. The Judge at Sheffield County Court awarded him £53 (SNZI4O) special damages — the cost of his overnight stay in London — and £lOO (SNZ263) special damages for inconvenience.

Costs were awarded on a scale which means the rail unions will pay about £6OOO (SNZIS,BOO) of the £lO,OOO costs of the hearing. Mr Falconer has already received about £3OOO of the balance from well-wishers.

The Judge found no sympathy with the unions’ argument that their actions were not aimed at Mr Falconer and no harm was intended to him.

“To say harm to passengers was a consequence and not the object of the action seems to me to be naive.

“The defendants were reckless in that they knew and appreciated the results of their actions on the plaintiff and others, but nevertheless, they pursued it,”

said the Judge. By buying a ticket in advance of his journey, Mr Falconer had entered into a contractual arrangement with British Rail board, said the Judge. The board, however, was prevented from carrying out its contractual obligations by the actions of the rail unions in calling a strike without a ballot as required by law. The rail unions have already indicated they will consider lodging an appeal, but Mr Falconer says he intends to challenge it if they do so. “I have set up a ‘commuters’ strike-back fund. Hundreds of thousands of commuters will benefit from this decision.

“The public is continually being bashed in the way I was. The unions have to obey the laws just like ordinary mortals.”

“An N.U.R. spokesman, Mr Jimmy Knapp, said the decision raised “very serious questions” for the union movement. It exposed current British legislation for what it was, he said; “Totally anti-union.”

Under Britain’s 1984 Trade Union Act, it is mandatory for trade unions to hold pre-strike ballots of their members.