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Public appeal for Montiel to be tribunal witness
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Yesterday morning?s public hearing of the Industrial Tribunal took place to consider Peter Sarde?a's petition to the tribunal for an order requiring Mr. Luis Montiel to appear as his witness which he had agreed to since 2005 when TGWU originally tabled the claim for unfair dismissal against the Bus Company.
"I have taken this step because Mr. Montiel was the district officer at the time, was fully conversant with the case and indeed on many occasions made representations to the Government in support of me," said Mr Sarde?a. "If the case had not suffered so many delays there is no reason to suppose that Mr. Montiel would have gone back on his word and fail to come forward as my witness."
DELAYS
However the delays and the intervening general elections have resulted in Mr. Montiel now being the Minister for Employment and part of the Government that owns the Bus Company.
In these circumstances Mr. Montiel has not answered my letters asking him to confirm his attendance as my witness in the tribunal, says Mr Sarde?a in a statement.
The statement adds: So as to make sure that he would attend if need be as a result of the tribunal requesting his presence I ask for a witness order to be made and this was opposed by the Bus Company.
The Bus Company lawyer argued that Mr. Montiel's witness statement was very skimpy based on perception and hearsay, that therefore his evidence was not needed and that the witness statement showed his reluctance to sign it.
OBSTACLES
None of these of course are valid arguments and are all subjective views by the Company, says the Sarde?a statement. This is clearly an attempt on behalf of the Bus Company to put obstacles in the way of me having a witness that can assist in my case receiving a fair hearing.
It adds: "Mr. Montiel may be reluctant to come now that he is a minister but I would appeal publicly to him to put political considerations to one side and remember that what we are dealing with is what happened in 2005, when I had his support and that of the TGWU and that the tribunal has to consider whether the conduct of the Bus Company was that of a reasonable employer which at the time Mr. Montiel definitely did not consider was the case.
"I am therefore making this public appeal to Mr. Montiel to attend as my witness on the 22nd October 2008 and put before the tribunal the information he has, as to the circumstances surrounding the disciplinary procedure and the appeal procedure applied by the company to which he raised strenuous objections in the name of the TGWU."
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