Transport and Industrial Workers' Union v Bata Trinidad and Tobago Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Trinidad & Tobago
• Judge: Khan, C.
• Judgment Date: 04 February 1991
• Court: Industrial Court (Trinidad and Tobago)
• Docket Number: 131 of 1987; 10 of 1988
• Date: 04 February 1991

Industrial Court

Khan, C.; Pounder, M.

131 of 1987; 10 of 1988

Transport and Industrial Workers' Union

and

Bata Trinidad and Tobago Ltd.

Appearances:

Mr. Oliver Joseph, Labour Relations Officer for party no. 1.

Mr. William Thompson, attorney-at-law for party no. 2.

Industrial law - Contract of service — Termination — Dismissal for refusal to obey lawful and reasonable instruction — Summary dismissal — Failure to investigate complaint against worker — Dismissal harsh and oppressive — Damages awarded in lieu of reinstatement.

Khan, C.

1 At the hearing of these trade disputes on 28th January, 1991, Mr. Oliver Joseph, the Union's representative, informed the court that the Union had not been able to communicate with Anthony Maynard, the dismissed worker concerned in Trade Dispute No. 131 of 1987 between the Union and the Company. Mr. Joseph also informed the court that the Union had also not been able to communicate with one of the workers concerned in Trade Dispute No. 10 of 1988, Tirath Jaikeransingh. In the event, the Union had not filed any Evidence and Arguments in Trade Dispute No. 131 of 1987 concerning Maynard or in Trade Dispute No. 10 of 1988 concerning Jaikeransingh. Upon being so informed, the court dismissed Trade Dispute No. 131 of 1987 and Trade Dispute No. 10 of 1988 but only in respect of the worker Jaikeransingh for want of prosecution As a result, what remains before the court for determination in Trade Dispute No. 10 of 1988 between the Union and the Company about the dismissal of Kishore Subhaw ‘the worker”).

2 The Company dismissed the worker on 25th November, 1986. At the time, the...