Chinatown dispute reaches settlement

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The picket line has finallybeen lifted at the New Diamond restaurant in London

A dispute between a trade union and a Chinese restaurant has been resolved. The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU)claimed that the New Diamond restaurant in London's Chinatown had made four of the union's members, all waiters, redundant for no good reason. The TGWU held a series of pickets outside the restaurant, and last month the case went to London's High Court (*Caterer*, 26 July, page 6), where a previous injunction banning the pickets was lifted. Last week the Chinatown Employers' Association held a meeting with both parties and a settlement was agreed. Dave Turnbull, regional organiser for the union, said: "We managed to come to a compensation settlement, the precise terms of which are confidential. "It has been settled in a favourable way for our members. We could not convince the restaurant to reinstate them." *Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 2-8 August 2001*