Airport fire dispute union may be sued
Monday 17th August 2009, 2:30PM BST.
AN ACCOUNTANT is considering suing a union official he claims is responsible for instigating firefighter action that closed the airport.
In a move that could have far-reaching consequences, the 60-year-old, who asked not to be named at this stage, might take action against Ron Le Cras, Unite’s regional representative (pictured), in the Petty Debts Court.
The man is seeking £385 in damages, the amount he says he and his wife lost when a lack of fire cover closed the airport during the May bank holiday weekend.
Unions in the UK receive protection against civil action, but a local expert said officials in Guernsey did not.
AO Hall partner Louise Hall said: ‘Guernsey legislation does not have the equivalent immunity protection provisions granted under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.
‘This means neither trades unions nor union officials in Guernsey can rely on a statutory immunity defence in any civil claim for damages.’
However, Mr Le Cras said the claimant was going after the wrong people. ‘He thinks we are to blame and we are not to blame,’ he said. ‘That’s really all there is to it.’
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I was very disappointed to read this headline for two reasons:- Mainly because I didn’t do it first but also because Guernsey as far as I know doesn’t allow class action lawsuits. If it did I’d be second to tack my name on the list of claimants along with thousands of others that lost out financially in the fire-fighters pathetic strike action.
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I think this is great. If there is no law to stop these types of crippling strikes in the future, then maybe essential workers will think twice about the impact of thier actions on other people. There must have been hundreds of thousands of pounds lost by people when the airport closed, and potentially millions in lost business as a result of missed meetings. Insurance companies are generally not liable for strike action (unlike weather delays which can be insured). It’s no good blaming others for closing the airport. If the firemen walked out, then they are the ONLY ones responsible for flights not having sufficient cover. If Mr LeCras was involved in that decision and provided support and encouragement, then he should be sued. Let the disruptors compensate the disrupted. Take the action, take the consequences…. It was up to the firemen all along if they did this. Don’t blame anyone else – the PSD or any other body do not stand on the runway and provide cover. The firemen do, and they have no right to disrupt thousand of other people at huge cost.Bring on the court case.
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How pathetically small minded. Next time a firefighter is needed to cover I wonder if the Press will report “firefighter comes into work at no notice to cover for ill colleague. Their inconvenience and lost free time are irrelevent, in fact at the time of printing, this correspondent thinks they should be forced to work for nothing.”
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Perhaps i can sue the Royal Mail who are on strike intermittently, for the late delivery of my son’s birthday present – as i had to go and buy him something else as it did not arrive in time!
This really is crazy. Anyway, I thought that the firemen didn’t go on strike – they just refused to work overtime?? This is all water under the bridge and it is wrong that anyone is out of pocket but perhaps we should be looking into the insurance covers scams which are all too quick to take our money – but rarely pay out!
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This has been talked about for some time within the commercial business’s of Guernsey. We are all of the view that the only way to stop this happening again, is not wait in vain for a States led solution but for those of us who are trying to generate wealth for this island to say enough is enough and let the law settle this. Perhaps when the union and indeed the fireman realise that we, by law, can come after them and they have to pay their own money will they perhaps learn.
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Paul
Your attitude stinks.
You want your job to dictate the rules for other jobs?
I don’t know why anyone bothers to serve the public in Guernsey. They’re expected to work for nothing while getting abuse for wanting some security in line with their worth.
You just want to exploit people to make money.
Well done Guernsey, nurturing good people, we should all be grateful for this man’s efforts in bringing the workers into line. I’ll say it again. Pathetic.
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Hey yeah, here’s a hornets nest, let’s poke it with a stick!
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Paul , what an arrogant load of c**p “we are all of the view”and “those of us who are trying to generate wealth for ourselves ,sorry the island”read your comments again and apply them to the landisbanki thing (of which i have no connection )and see if you wealth generating monkeys would like to go to court to repay those people , perhaps when those who lose money due to incompetant bankers can “by law come after them and you have to pay your own money “then perhaps YOU will learn, as for the firemen and the union they have a right ,long fought for by guernsey men to keep their standards of living up and they felt through exasperation that it was time to motivate someone , because you see they dont have automatic rises ,like the wealth generators nor do they get rises for suggesting ways to rip off their customers , be careful there is a rising loathing for the finance industry in guernsey and some would like to see it gone ,we managed before and we will do it again your comments did your cause no good
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Typical remark from someone who obviously has never worked for the public sector and has no insight into the problems being encountered.
What would Paul do if he was being exploited – and constantly being expected to come in on his days off and not expected to have a normal life. No doubt Paul is a private businessman who earns a good salary, probably with profit sharing and health benefits etc. The public sector workers have no protection apart from the union and the law will never be able to change that, unless we become a communist led island! No one seems to be complaining about the cost of lawyers do they ? Double standards methinks.
The public sector is imploding – the island at large will be the losers.
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