The man at the centre of the CableVision dispute which escalated into an Island-wide strike has won his case for unfair dismissal at an arbitration panel.

The company says it has not been informed of the panel's ruling.

"We are unaware of any arbitration ruling in the David Green case," according to a statement attributed to Alan Smith, CableVision's Operations Manager. "We were advised by the courts to stand down due to our injunction pending our court case. We have not been invited to participate in an arbitration/tribunal hearing and we are baffled by the comments that ran on ZBM radio at lunchtime today."

David Greene was sacked in September last year after the company claimed he tried to coerce colleague Michael Jones into going slow to spin out overtime.

Bermuda Industrial Union workers came out in sympathy leading to bus and ferry stoppages while work on the Causeway, which had been damaged by Hurricane Fabian days earlier, also stopped.

But Mr. Jones told the company both before the arbitration began that Mr. Greene had not threatened him and he went on to vindicate Mr. Greene during the hearing.

Asked for his reaction about the judgment given on Friday, Mr. Greene said: "I feel very blessed, God is good.

"I have been through a lot through the past 11 months and two days."

Mr. Greene, who was chief engineer at CableVision, was out of work until April 12 following his sacking and now works at the company's satellite rival World on Wireless.

He said getting a new post had not been easy. "My name was slandered, I was put through an emotionally humiliation.

"My thing is giving God thanks, my name is cleared. Everyone knows it wasn't me. Michael Jones made it very clear but CableVision refused to hear it."

Asked why CableVision had gone against him he said: "You would have to ask them that. I tried to do the best in the job.

"I was never late, I was never written up, my work was immaculate.

"I was the chief engineer at the time after working my way up from the bottom to the top. I was just doing my job," said Mr. Greene who spent 12 years with CableVision.

He said he was happy in his new post. "They gave me a chance and didn't listen to all the stuff that was going on."

CableVision are now taking the case to civil court next month. Mr. Greene didn't want to comment.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess said the company had tried to offer Mr. Greene money to walk away in a bid to scupper the hearing.

Mr. Burgess also noted the panel had said lawyers were partly to blame for stoking the row.

He said the union had always had faith in Mr. Greene.

"It doesn't make sense for people, for no reason at all, to make a mockery of labour relations."

He said Mr. Greene was entitled to be compensated for all his lost earnings.

When the row broke out the union had said Mr. Greene had been fired over a joke made by someone else for which he was blamed.

The BIU said workers were discussing each other's output when someone in jest suggested a particularly busy worker should slow down on repairs on lines damaged by Fabian.