United Kingdom Employment Appeal Tribunal

APPEARANCES

 

For the Appellant	THE APPELLANTS NEITHER PRESENT NOR REPRESENTED


 


JUDGE REID QC: These two appeals have been adjourned because of the inability of the appellants to attend. What has been adjourned has been a further hearing of preliminary ex parte hearings on the appeal. There is, however, one matter which falls to be dealt with today.

1. On the previous occasion when the matter was before the tribunal His Honour Judge Colin Smith QC, as Chairman, delivered a judgment which contained the following paragraph:

"7. Accordingly, with regard to that ground of appeal for those reasons, we adjourn that ground of appeal to be relisted on a subsequent preliminary hearing after the collective agreement has been looked at by those advising the Applicants and know doubt the Applicants will be able to make there own arrangements for obtaining the collective agreement. Should it be necessary for us to make any order in that regard, we will of course make a suitable order."

2. The collective agreement, if it exists, has not been produced. The question now is what is the appropriate order for us to make following the determination of the tribunal on the previous occasion. It seems to us that the best way to deal with this is to direct that the General Secretary or some other suitable officer of the Transport & General Workers Union should swear an affidavit either exhibiting the collective agreement or explaining why the collective agreement referred to in paragraph 7 of Judge Colin Smith's judgment cannot be exhibited. This would obviously include the possibility, which is adumbrated in the papers, that no such agreement ever did exist. We will direct that that affidavit should be made within six weeks of today and that the preliminary hearing be relisted further not earlier than four weeks after that date.