Workers at the Corporation of Hamilton made history yesterday when they threatened to strike and protested over the suspension of a colleague.

For the first time in the corporation's long history, 40 or so workers marched from their depot on Dundonald Street to City Hall to confront bosses over the disciplinary action against one of the men.

The worker had at first been fired, but then suspended without pay for a week after allegedly becoming embroiled in a row with a member of the public on Reid Street, which led to an official complaint.

But the staff said they were unhappy at the way the situation had been handled by the corporation, and, after a long discussion, they chose to voice their concern and threaten to withdraw their labour.

After a two-hour meeting with Corporation Secretary Roger Sherratt yesterday afternoon, the suspended worker was allowed to return to work, and the original complaint about the row was turned over to a labour relations officer.

However, the workers, which included people from the sanitation, landscaping, construction and painting divisions, said they were still unhappy because they felt members of the public treated them with little respect.

Workers' representative Irene DeSilva said: "We are happy in that that they suspended the suspension, but there is still a lot of frustration as the workers don't believe the public respects them.

"The corporation has said it will appeal to people to be more respectful to us. We are just asking people to be a bit more considerate. We take insults and threats while we are working, and we are just trying to do our jobs. We want to know what our rights are."

Ms DeSilva said, while the workers were glad that the employee had been allowed to return to work, they felt he should never have been suspended in the first place.

She added: "We felt the way it was handled was wrong. The corporation seemed to take the side of the woman who complained.

"It should have been referred to the labour relations officer for investigating in the first place. It should never have come to this."

But yesterday, Mr. Sherratt said the proper procedures were followed in dealing with the disciplinary matter, and said the issue had been fully investigated on both sides.

However, Mr. Sherratt said the suspended worker had not used his right to appeal the suspension. If he had, the matter would then have been automatically referred to a labour relations officer.

Instead, the workers chose to protest and threaten strike action.

Mr. Sherratt said the corporation had received a complaint from the woman who had got into the row with one of the sanitation workers, who The Royal Gazette understands was named one of the corporation's best workers of the quarter.

It is believed the complainant had wrongly parked in a loading bay on Reid Street, and the corporation worker then hemmed her in with his trash truck.

She asked him to move his vehicle so she could leave, and he refused, with a row ensuing.

The woman claims he threatened her with a bottle and a piece of wood, but the worker claims the woman's husband racially abused him.

Protesting workers yesterday claimed their colleague had merely crushed a plastic bottle in frustration of the situation.

Mr. Sherratt said: "She made a written complaint to the corporation. It was investigated and as a result of that investigation, interviews with various people were held, and it was decided that one of our employees should be disciplined. We interviewed him, too.

"We have now discussed it with the worker and the joint consultative committee reps and we have agreed to refer the matter to the labour relations officer and we are holding off the suspension until that investigation is complete."

Mr. Sherratt said he had been surprised by the protest action, and said he was not aware of it ever happening before. But he said the demonstration had shown him the strength of feeling among the workers.

And he appealed for members of the public to be more considerate towards the Corporation's 115 blue collar workers.

He said: "The workers are concerned about the fact that it's very difficult for them to do their jobs sometimes.

"They take quite a lot of abuse from the general public, and they have concerns about their own safety. I want to make quite clear that I'm not referring to this particular incident with the woman on Reid Street, but sometimes people can be impatient when our workers are trying to do their jobs. It's simply a matter of respect."

Mr. Sherratt added: "We are simply asking people to be more respectful and to allow the staff to do their jobs.

"We are not going to pre-judge this particular incident, as it has now been referred to the labour relations officer, but in general, can I ask people to be more understanding and respectful towards the corporation workers."