My name is Cetin Avsar, a Turkish immigrant and proud trade unionist who in October this year began a new job working for the security contractor Wilson James at the Francis Crick Institute, the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.

On 13th November - after only 3 weeks on the job - I was suspended, invited to a disciplinary hearing and threatened with the sack on the explicit grounds of: 

1. Being a member of the trade union United Voices of the World (UVW), 
2.  for having led a lawful strike at my former place of work, St George's University, where I called for equality between outsourced staff and in-house staff, and 
3. for my belief that outsourcing predominantly BAME workers - which I am - on inferior pay to predominantly White in-house staff is racially discriminatory. 

 In the invitation to my disciplinary hearing my manager, Sarah Watts, said: 

“...your conduct has not reached the required standards. You are therefore invited to a hearing to discuss your probation period and your future employment with Wilson James. During this hearing the following will be discussed: 

In you (sic) most recent employment with Noonans (sic) where you were employed as a Security Officer for about 2.5yrs at St. George's University, you were leading a campaign to be taken in-house and given the same terms as all in house employees. The union you have joined and who have supported you in your campaign are United Voices of the World (UVW), who in their words ‘believe that outsourcing is antiquated and discriminatory’. You planned a 13 day strike action earlier in the year to protest on the above. Wilson James are also a contractor, which fundamentally means that there is a conflict of interest between your opinion and work with the union which lead to your protesting, and your employment with Wilson James. You should be aware that the outcome of this hearing may be your dismissal from the Company’s employment for failing your probation…”

 I believe that in suspending, disciplining and threatening to dismiss me, Wilson James are trampling all over my rights, including my human rights enshrined in: 

• Articles 9, 10 & 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights (also contained in the Human Rights Act 1998)
• multiple conventions of the Internal Labour Organisation including 87, 98 and 111
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
• and my rights enshrined in UK law under the Equality Act 2010, the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, and the The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010.

This is why I need your help, because I believe I have been blacklisted and if it can happen to me it can happen to anyone. 

I am now taking Wilson James to court seeking an injunction ordering them to immediately lift my suspension and to stop them from disciplining or dismissing me.

Applying for an injunction in these circumstances is very rare and is normally only done by doctors or directors. I believe I might be the be the first security, or low paid worker ever to try and get an injunction to save their job. But in this case it is necessary because I have a disabled dependent son who I am solely responsible for, and if I am dismissed, my son and I could find ourselves destitute and the remedy available to me in an employment tribunal will in-adequately compensate me and take too long to get. 

This case is also about protecting my human rights. If I win, Wilson James wouldn't every try this again with another one of their employees. And a precedent could be set in which other workers could also apply to get an injunction against their employer if it could be shown that they too were about to be dismissed because of being on a blacklist or for exercising their human right to organise in a trade union.

To see this case through I need to raise £5,000 - £10,000. My solicitor and barrister are working on a no win no fee basis, but this is what the costs of the other side are likely to be and which I would have to pay in the event that I lost the case. Before the court could award an interim injunction, I would also have to undertake to pay back my wages if I lose at the final hearing, but of course I am not on my own resources good for that money. So, part of the money raised would also go towards this. Because even though the laws Wilson James have broken are clear, the court is not guaranteed to award the injunction, and so I need to be prepared.

Your support would be really appreciated.