D opened a factory and most of their workers joined a union. On the application of the union for recognition, P sacked 20 employees (not on the basis of their alleged involved union activities, but simply in response to the union’s application for recognition. CA held that this could not be an automatically unfair dismissal on the grounds of involvement in union activities under (forerunner to) s.153. Although CA conceded that this might be though a lacuna in the law, it was for parliament to resolve and not for the courts to amend the law based on what they thought parl must have intended. (Although the dismissals were found to be unfair, it was not on the automatic ground of individual’s union involvement and hence the extra compensation available under this ground was not granted to the workers).
May LJ: The dismissals cannot be brought within the wording of the section even though the section was clearly aimed at a mischief very similar to that which befell the employees.
