Clarke: Tribunal a waste of time

Cumbersome and structured to delay decisions.
That best sums up the Employment Rights Tribunal process, says two trade union bosses who are crying out against the strongly legalistic nature of the body.
Yesterday, general secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Dennis Clarke and head of Unity Workers’ Union (UWU), Caswell Franklyn, said the tribunal, which came into being after the Employment Rights Act was proclaimed in April last year, may be complicating the industrial process.
“Having the tribunal set up, it means you will either have to have someone who is good at what they are doing, or you will have to seek the services of a lawyer.
“But when the union takes one-day or two-day strike action to get something straightened out, these are the same people who were calling for an industrial court and those kinds of mechanisms, not understanding what they are or what they’re all about, and that such matters will take time,” Clarke said.
Franklyn said the process should be a simple one for the average worker but the tribunal was demanding legal documents such as witness statements.