Another prominent trade unionist in the Isle of Man is condemning the handling of redundancies by the Leisure Division of the Department of Community, Culture and Leisure.

On Thursday, five railway workmen were told they had been laid off, with immediate effect.

Secretary for the Employees' side of Whitley Council Eric Holmes, a member of Unite, told Manx Radio about the situation as he understood it (play audio file):

The Department of Community, Culture and Leisure has issued a response to some of the comments which have been made about its handling of the redundancies.

Minister David Cretney says he was given the views of the five railway workers who were made redundant when he met with them shortly after 5pm on Thursday.

He says he finds it hard to see how he can be accused of sanctioning something he was not aware of until after it happened, adding it is normal practice for employees who have been made redundant to be asked to leave the workplace.

In respect of the removal of the right to appeal, he says he has spoken to union representatives and agreed to provide an appeal mechanism. The procedure was agreed this morning (Friday) and was to be sent to the affected employees individually, as soon as possible.

In respect of retraining, he says one worker originally advised of the need to make redundancies has successfully applied for a different role, for which he is being given training.

Finally, in respect of an individual's right to be accompanied by his union, Mr Cretney says the redundancy announcement on Thursday was the provision of information rather than any form of negotiation or hearing, so there was no need for formal representation.