Drivers complain of TGWU's unfair treatment
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• Two lorry drivers who complained to the Industrial Tribunal that they had been unfairly treated by their union, the TGWU, had their case upheld in Birmingham last week when the chairman of the Tribunal, Mr R. Smith, awarded both complainants £15 in compensation.
The Tribunal heard that the drivers, Mr G. Edwards and Mr T. I. Parkes, both of Coventry, Warwicks, and both of whom had originally been employed and subsequently made redundant by Lathams Transporters Ltd, Coventry, had been denied re-admission into their union despite the fact that another member originally employed by Lathams Transporters, and whose subscription of dues to the union had also lapsed, had been reinstated in the union early in 1972.
Giving evidence on behalf of himself and his colleague, Mr G. Edwards said that early in 1971 he and Mr Parkes had agreed with their employers, Lathams Transporters, to pay their union dues by deduction from their wages. However, these subscriptions were not accepted by the union and were returned to Lathams Transporters without acceptance of the firm's cheque.
After several meetings with the union both complainants were finally accepted back into the union, although another Lathams Transporters employee, Mr Duncan, whose union dues had also lapsed was accepted back into the union earlier.
After deciding that the drivers had not been subject to discrimination as a result of their union's decision and action, the chairman of the Tribunal said that he thought neither of the pair had lost more money in wages than they would have done had they been made redundant under normal circumstances and therefore decided, after a short adjournment, that a compensation of only £15 per complainant was necessary.