29.11.2007

Crane driver reinstated after a year of picketing

A crane driver in Sydney, Australia will return to work today more than 12 months after he began a one-man picket about being sacked.

Barry Hemsworth says he was sacked under the WorkChoices laws over a safety dispute at Botany Cranes last year.

The 59-year-old union delegate says he has maintained a picket outside his workplace for the past year in protest against the laws.

Mr Hemsworth says the union and the company have now reached an agreement that will see him go back to work for the first time today.

"I think the company realises now that the Government has been defeated and they will now come back and continue that good relationship that we had previously," he said.

"We'll hopefully get things back in order again and work towards better outcomes and fairer outcomes."

A company spokesman says Mr Hemsworth's sacking had nothing to do with WorkChoices. He says it was about an undisclosed disciplinary matter, which was dealt with under an existing enterprise agreement.