30.11.1995

Brent sackings

FIFTY-FIVE housing benefit workers challenged their unfair dismissal by the London Borough of Brent in an industrial tribunal. Labour leader Tony Blair’s wife, barrister Cherie Booth, was called in to handle the case ... on the side of the Tory council!

At a tasty £1,000 a day she could not lose, but the council did. Three years after they were dismissed following spurious competency tests, the 55 have been awarded £400,000 in compensation.

Two got £25,000 - the first showed he was good at his job and was sacked only because of his colour. The second, Unison official Mike Harding, proved discrimination because of trade union activities. He failed the interview despite getting an ‘A’ in all the competence tests. All but 15 have found new jobs doing the same kind of work, so proving their competence.

Unison demonstrated that the council had decided who would pass and who would fail before the interviews took place. The workers chosen for the chop were mostly women and black with family responsibilities. A senior council official claimed, “This strategy will allow us to appoint staff who can perform and get rid of the drongos.”

Parvin Shar, assistant secretary of Brent Unison, pointed out that the department had a large backlog of work and staff were being pressurised into working long hours to catch up. The sackings were motivated only by the desire to save money.

Despite the union’s victory the council might not be discouraged from using such methods. Originally 107 people were dismissed but only 55 chose to fight. So although the case cost the council £1.5 million, it has possibly saved £3 million. Unison and the GMB are presently fighting other cases of wrongful dismissal and another 100 more clerical jobs are due to go in the new year.

Parvin Shar commented on Cherie Booth:

“She was more concerned with buying a new hat to accompany her husband to the state opening of parliament than she was with the suffering of the people who had lost their jobs.  I know I should not be saying this - I was a Labour councillor in Harrow - but meeting people like her makes me wonder if I should still be in the Labour Party.”

Phil Kent