A UNION chief has described the summary sacking of a Galashiels electrician by the Scottish Borders Housing Association (SBHA) as “an absolute disgrace”.

Tony Trench, regional officer of Unite, claimed this week the decision to fire Gig Wilson was “further evidence of a culture of bullying and intimidation” at the region’s largest social landlord.

And he said Unite, which is already engaged in a work to rule in a dispute over new terms and conditions, would now support widower Mr Wilson, 62, in a claim for unfair dismissal.

Mr Wilson, from Glenfield, received written confirmation from SBHA on August 28 that he had been sacked after six years in the job for “gross misconduct”. He had been suspended since February.

His dismissal relates to an email which Mr Wilson, in his role as secretary and health and safety representative of the union’s SBHA branch, sent to chief executive Julia Mulloy on January 30 this year.

In it, he expressed concern about the failure of management to properly consult with employees over the decision by SBHA operate a Post Office counter service at its Whinfield Road headquarters in Selkirk.

He believed those staff told to work at the new facility would experience increased levels of stress.

“My concern was to protect employees from foreseeable illness and I did not believe existing policies, procedures and practices were adequate,” said Mr Wilson. The email was copied to the union, which had instructed its dispatch, and also to the Tweeddale Press – and that, according to SBHA management, was “an act of gross misconduct” which breached his contract of employment and brought the association into disrepute.

Mr Wilson, who had just returned to work from sickness absence when he sent the email, said he was unaware of this charge until February 24.

“I had been asked to attend a meeting on that date to discuss comments I had made on my return-to-work form, but it turned out to be a one-sided disciplinary hearing about the email,” he told the Border Telegraph.

“Proper procedures were ignored as I wasn’t notified in writing about the alleged misconduct and its consequences and thus had no opportunity to prepare a response. I should at least have been given copies of any written evidence against me in advance and advised of my right to be accompanied at the meeting.

“Despite all that, I was suspended on the spot.” Mr Wilson said that for the previous year he had been attempting unsuccessfully to have his working hours rearranged so that he might better care for his 16-year-old learning disabled daughter Harriet In an email to management on August 27 last year, he sought a meeting to discuss the possibility of having his hours reduced or working as a self-employed contractor.

“I basically was looking to have Fridays off to give me more one-to-one time with my daughter whose special needs were changing. I felt it was a reasonable request for a single parent to make.” Mr Wilson, who is diabetic, claimed SBHA’s refusal to comply with his request had impacted adversely in his own health. Indeed, on his back-to-work form in January he cited his “frustration as management have not come to a decision about my request to change my working pattern”.

“Sadly, I never got the chance to discuss these issues on February 24 and, instead the meeting was hi-jacked and I was suspended over the email to Ms Mulloy.” A formal disciplinary hearing, at which Mr Wilson was accompanied by senior Unite shop steward Allan Graham, took place at Selkirk’s Ettrick Riverside business centre on Friday, August 22.

According to Mr Wilson, he told the hearing he had still been stressed when he sent the email and, as a result, copied it to the Tweeddale Press in error, explaining that the intended recipient – Mr Trench – was just above the Tweeddale Press contact on his distribution list.

He said he had attempted to retrieve the email from the newspaper group the following day and, in the event, the message, which did not contain his address, never entered the public domain and thus, no harm was done. But in a letter confirming his summary dismissal, SBHA’s technical director Alan Vass, who chaired the hearing, wrote: “I have concluded that it was your intention to send the email to the Tweeddale Press and that it was not sent in error.

“You said you felt the contents of the email were appropriate. I disagree. My view is that any objective bystander would regard these views as defamatory and without any basis in truth, thereby exposing SBHA to public opprobrium and disapproval and the material loss of reputation.” Mr Wilson said he believed SBHA had been “looking for an excuse” to sack him because he had raised concerns about the Post Office and, on behalf of the union, had commissioned an independent report on workforce stress levels.

“I believe I’ve been perceived as a thorn in their side, but I’m confident an employment tribunal will find my sacking was totally unjustified,” he said.

Mr Trench told us: “This is victimisation of a union officer who was just doing his job. In my view it is an absolute disgrace which is further evidence of the culture of bullying and intimidation at SBHA.” Asked to respond, Mr Vass told the Border Telegraph: “SBHA won’t comment on matters concerning individual staff members, but would reiterate that SBHA has clear standards expected of its employees and is not prepared to accept when these are breached during the course of their employment.”