RID branded 'esoteric' in landmark case
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THE FIRST LEGAL challenge to the Road Transport Directive (RTD) has ended in success for a driver who won more than £1.000 at an Employment Tribunal.
The Manchester Tribunal branded the RTD legislation "complex and rather esoteric'', Hatton Logistics in Wiltshire was ordered to pay the driver £883.80 with £200 compensation after he refused to work when Ii legal hours had expired.
The company, which does not recognise any unions, had imposed a deal with a reference period of 52 weeks. The driver is a member of the United RoadTransport Union ( URT(J) which argued on his behalf that not only was this illegal, but that the contract was produced without involving any elected representatives of the employees.
TheTribunal's chairman said: "It isn't suggested that the respondent was guilty of had faith, taking such advice as it could at the time and labouring with a general, if not national, misunderstanding as to what the regulations meant and how they would work in effect."
A spokeswoman for the company says: "At no time did we try not to adhere to the law.
uRru regional officer Brian Hart says:"I praise the member for having the conviction to stand by his belief even when his employer was refusing to pay him."
• URTU General Secretary Bob Monks has fought off a challenge from previous incumbent David Higginbottom. christopher.tindall@rbi.co.ok