Reid Transport, the Northern Ireland-based haulier that has been put into administration, is being investigated by the police. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) declines to reveal the nature of its inquiries nor will it confirm reports that one aspect of the investigation concerns allegations that Reid had employed a boy of 14 for up to five nights a week, in breach of the child labour rules.
Administrators for the company did solve one problem when negotiations with former workers ended a blockade at its Ballymena depot. Nearly 200 workers had been demanding payment for time they had already worked they will now be paid redundancy money, although this is limited to a maximum of £310.
Sean Smyth, Unite's industrial organiser for the site, says employees had not been paid since 15 November: "We agreed to lift the blockade after hours of talks with the administrator at Northern Ireland's equivalent of ACAS when the administrators agreed to pay the staff something, even though some will not get everything that is owing to them." Unite is demanding a full inquiry into the collapse of Reid, which is understood to have debts of £3.5m.
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