THE ROAD HAULAGE Association (RHA) is awaiting the decision of
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an employment tribunal it attended last Monday over an unfair dismissal claim.
Gerald Wilson, who had worked as an IT systems architect at the RHA, told the tribunal in Croydon, Surrey that he believed his redundancy was 'unfair and unnecessary" because there was a continuing need for his work.
Wilson was one of 12 staff at the RHA's headquarters in Weybridge, Surrey, who were notified by current chief executive Geoff Dunning (pictured) at a meeting on March 26 2009 that they were to be made redundant.
Dunning told the tribunal that following a review of its operations, the RHA had decided to house all of its marketing, IT, and accounts jobs under a single roof at its Peterborough office.
He added that the restructure had been necessary because the organisation had lost £600,000 because of the cancellation of the Commercial Vehicle Show — of which it was a co-organiser — as well as having to pay £1.1m into its pension fund.
In a letter to RHA chairman Andy Boyle dated 29 April 2009, Wilson criticised Dunning's proposals as having "stampeded the RHA into chaos".
Sarah Malik, representing the RHA, said the organisation had been forced to make redundancies because of the economic climate.
A written decision will be issued shortly.