Hursts hurt badly by compo award
By Peadar Whelan
A West Belfast man, the target of a sustained campaign of sectarian
harassment in the Charles Hurst motor company, was last week paid one
of the highest awards ever in a Fair Employment payout.
Hursts, on Belfast's Boucher Road, admitted the man was discriminated
against because of his religion and paid him £65,000. This was the
third major FET case taken by Catholics against Hursts.
Phoblacht has learned that in the four years the man was employed
in Hursts Jaguar workshop he suffered a constant stream of sectarian
abuse and made numerous complaints to management which he says, ``was
dismissive of my complaints''.
On one occasion a senior manager, in an attempt to intimidate the
man, accused him of assaulting another mechanic. The attempt failed
when the Catholic man brought the manager and the mechanic face to
face.
In 1992 when the man went to work in the firm as a 17 year old
apprentice some members of the mostly Protestant work force singled
him out for abuse. He was constantly shoved, pushed and kneed under
the table while in the canteen. He was called Taig and Fenian and
sectarian tunes were whistled in his presence. The man's belongings
including tools, overalls and boots were super glued, stolen and
tampered with. On one occasion he was slapped in the face by an older
employee who was one of the main offenders.
One of the most serious incidents of harassment occurred in 1994 when
he was driving home and noticed a rattling noise which seemed to be
in the steering of his car. It turned out that someone had loosened
the wheel nuts in his car.
When the campaign against the man increased after he went to
management he kept a diary and made official complaints to ensure his
complaints were recorded. This diary became an important part of the
evidence the man submitted to the Fair Employment Commission.
``For most of the time I was there I was ostracised. The atmosphere
was threatening especially as there was an Ulster Flag with UVF on
it''.
According to documentation we have seen this flag was the subject of
an FET hearing in 1993 when it was taken off the wall but left on a
bench in the canteen. It was reinstated on the wall with the letters
UVF made from car number plate letters affixed to it.
In 1993 during an intense loyalist killing campaign, in the aftermath
of the Shankill bomb, and when two Catholics were shot dead in a
council cleansing yard in West Belfast, members of the workforce
cheered.
Eventually the man left Hursts on sick leave and was diagnosed as
suffering from depression, before resigning. He hasn't been able to
work since.
Speaking to An Phoblacht he said he was ``relieved it is over. I would
like to thank my legal team and the FET for their support and I would
like to acknowledge the real effort the new owners are making to
improve the employment situation. I don't envy their task as the
previous owners allowed the situation to deteriorate and make it
impossible for Catholics to work there''.
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