Anger at last post for Keith

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 04 Sep 2008, 16:59

http://www.thecomet.net/content/comet/n ... 3A24%3A000

A POSTMAN who wanted to complete 50 years service with Royal Mail has had his hopes ruined.

Keith Robinson, 63, of Beane Avenue, Stevenage, had worked for the company since the age of 15 up until Christmas last year when his van was stolen.

He left the keys in the vehicle while out on his rounds in Stevenage and for that reason was sacked. But he took Royal Mail to an industrial tribunal and won his case.

He said: "It was my ambition to do 50 years service with the same company but they haven't let me after I made just one mistake in 47 years!

"Someone distracted me and in a loss of concentration someone jumped in the van and drove off.

"Royal Mail said I was sacked for 'theft of their van' but the tribunal threw it out because I didn't steal it so I was sacked for the wrong reasons. It was a surprise I was sacked at all because before this I had a clear record.

"When they refused to give me my job back the tribunal offered me £21,000 in compensation and I had no choice but to accept it. I don't have another job at the moment so I'm living off of it.

"I know of similar circumstances where people have had their vans stolen and they have kept their job. It's not fair."

Colleague Michael Hurran said: "Staff at the Royal Mail sorting office in Stevenage are upset at the dismissal.

"The injustice about it is he did 47 years service and he made just one mistake. He's been treated very badly."

Steve Butts, area delivery representative for the number 4 branch of the Communication Workers Union, said: "Justice has been served but it's very sad that he won't be able to clock up 50 years service which was his prime objective.

"It was one mistake and Royal Mail has acted inappropriately.

"It is legislation that when you have been to a tribunal you can't enforce re-engagement between an employer and employee but in this case they should have because Mr Robinson was only 25 per cent at fault and Royal Mail was 75 per cent at fault for how they dealt with the situation."

A Royal Mail spokesman said it was not willing to comment on individual cases.

norbert · Post by **norbert** » 04 Sep 2008, 18:43

theft of their van WTF , how obscure , vague and bizarre is that ?

- who thinks these up ?

still a shafting in Court and on the Internet . The price of everything and the value of nothing - couldn't happen to nicer people ?

for him & the CWU for standing up to RM .

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 04 Sep 2008, 18:58

All i will say is this DON'T LEAVE YOUR KEY'S IN YOUR VAN and it has happened in my place of work too but thank god they did not lose their job's but that was the past this is the future!. Vans can be stolen for allsorts of reasons ( robbery , gaining access to property and ragging it around a council estate putting lives endanger!. ) Glad the bloke has won his case but let us not lose sight of ROYALMAILS HARSH DICTATORIAL POLICY ON THIS ISSUE!.

Post by **General Mannerheim** » 04 Sep 2008, 19:00

So why havn`t the two knobheads :lfo :cfo been sacked for the theft of all the mail going to there pals at TNT,UK Mail etc???

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 04 Sep 2008, 19:12

General Mannerheim wrote:So why havn`t the two knobheads :lfo :cfo been sacked for the theft of all the mail going to there pals at TNT,UK Mail etc???

I am sure they just LENT the keys of royalmail too the thieves of buisness and look at the destruction it has caused!. ALL PART OF A MASTERPLAN!. :cfo & :lfo

apple · Post by **apple** » 04 Sep 2008, 19:19

bet he was a full timer on 40hrs, replaced by? one way to get the hours down

Rowdy · Post by **Rowdy** » 04 Sep 2008, 20:29

So 47 years service counts for nothing. Doesn't it make you proud to be an employee of this wonderful company? OK, the guy made a big mistake, one of the golden rules is never leave your keys in your vehicle, but for christ's sake the guy has spent most of his life working for Royal Mail with what seems to be an unblemished record. Could they not have given him a serious and left it at that. Note that there is no mention of the thieves. I suppose they will be hit with the full force of the law and be handed some community service order.

norbert · Post by **norbert** » 04 Sep 2008, 21:19

Rowdy wrote:So 47 years service counts for nothing. Doesn't it make you proud to be an employee of this wonderful company? OK, the guy made a big mistake, one of the golden rules is never leave your keys in your vehicle, but for christ's sake the guy has spent most of his life working for Royal Mail with what seems to be an unblemished record. Could they not have given him a serious and left it at that. Note that there is no mention of the thieves. I suppose they will be hit with the full force of the law and be handed some community service order.

Probably didn't take him back as vindictive , spiteful punishment for standing up to RM .

There was a case mentioned on here before the two hacks re A Cheshire RDC - somebody had a row with a "manager" , the manager assaulted him in temper .

To close ranks and teach him a very perverse "moral"

lesson , RM predictably twisted everything round on it's head and stitched the postie up on a assault charge

He took RM to ET , won his case but came back to a charge of "failing to show dignity and respect to the cage cards " when he predictably walked out of the building and chucked the cards up in the air

WTF ? - FFS !

as another perverse RM "moral crusade " for having the temarity to stand up to RM

this is a good but only too typical example http://cwu.org/uploads/documents/VOICE% ... %20web.pdf

or google postie wins £56,000 for unfair dismissal - should come up at the top of the page .

What I've noticed happens is when there's a theft case - somebody mentions it as a question in WTL - the question has to answered with the correct RM answer . The usual one is it's the staff's fault for turning a blind eye or nobody wanting to be a grass - RM are never at fault of course

This is another spiteful , kneejerk reaction - don't know much about mentally disabled people but RM appears to have a few of them in charge .