THE COUNCIL painter whose sacking caused bin strikes across the borough in August has lost his case against Halton Council.

Alan Lowe is now coming to terms with losing his claim for unfair dismissal, a decision announced on Thursday.

Mr Lowe, 53, had alleged that his dismissal was motivated by his trade union activities on behalf of the GMB.

But Halton Council denied this, saying it sacked him for gross misconduct.

Reacting to his defeat, Mr Lowe, from Runcorn, said: "Not only have I lost my livelihood, I could lose my house. I'm 53 and there's not much chance of me getting a job.

"Dismissed for what they call gross misconduct and trade union activities, what employer is going to take me on?"

He said that only a summary of the tribunal's decision had been issued and he was waiting for a full statement before deciding whether or not to appeal.

Mr Lowe, a painter at the council for 25 years, was dismissed in May.

When his first appeal was rejected by an internal disciplinary panel, members of the GMB union voted for strike action. Three one-day bin stoppages resulted.

Deciding in favour of Halton Council, the Liverpool-based tribunal said: "The majority decision of the tribunal is that the applicant was not dismissed for trade union reasons but was fairly dismissed."

And Mr Lowe added: "I'm not bitter or vengeful. Life goes on and this is just another argument that I happened to lose."

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