§ Mr. Peter RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases have been submitted to the Labour Relations Agency for consideration by an industrial tribunal from workers at Shorts/Bombardier [146309]
§ Jane KennedyEmployment-related complaints are submitted direct to the Office of the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal. All such applications are recorded in a public register and a copy of each is sent to the Labour Relations Agency, which seeks to promote a settlement of the complaint without need for a tribunal hearing.
In the calendar year 2003, 361 applications were made to industrial tribunals by Shorts/Bombardier staff. A breakdown of these by ground of complaint is provided below (some included more than one ground).
Number Unfair dismissal 1353 Redundancy payments 3 Breach of contract 4 Wages order 3 Disability 17 Sex discrimination 9 Trade union activities 1 1Includes "unfairly selected for redundancy" cases. There were also 20 applications to the Fair Employment Tribunal by Shorts/Bombardier staff over the period.