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Racist bosses forced Filipino staff to climb pylons in the rain while British colleagues stayed in the dry.

Workers who complained were told to “shut their mouths” or be “sent back to the Philippines”, an employment tribunal heard.

Cardiff-based Voltcom Group also made the men work through illness, while UK workers got time off and sick pay.

Now the firm has been ordered to pay the three victims – Michael Narzoles, Randy Pajimolin and Benigno Tabang – £42,000 each.

Judge Stephen Jenkins ruled they had ­suffered racial discrimination and were ­unfairly sacked from their jobs taking down overhead power lines.

(Image: Getty Images/EyeEm)

Judge Jenkins said: “If unsafe working conditions arose due to bad weather , then where a gang was made up of a mix of ­workers they were allowed to stop working.

"By ­contrast, where gangs were made up ­exclusively of Filipino workers they were obliged to continue working.

"They were always told that if they did not work, they would be sent back to the Philippines.”

They were sacked in 2015 for not wearing seatbelts driving an off-road work vehicle.

Judge Jenkins said they had been summarily dismissed unfairly and awarded each £32,000 plus £10,000 for emotional stress.