Sacked for fixing a pothole

The Advertiser: Sacked for fixing a pothole :

"The two men filled in the pothole last week in the driveway at the entrance to the Roseworthy Hotel.

But because the pothole was 30cm inside private land, the council determined it was 'unauthorised work' and was 'gross misconduct' by the men."

Judging from a distance is very hard but this seems awfully hard. Are the workers difficult? Were they just looking for a way to release them from their jobs? Given they have been employed for 8 years at the same place, then that seems unlikely. If the workers filled in the pothole, isn't that a nice thing, even if it did turn out to be on private property? Wouldn't people have been thanked before for helping out? I don't understand this new Australia. We don't talk to people. We don't thank people. We don't value people. Couldn't the council say we now have to be careful about what is our land and what is private property? Talking to people seems to have gone by the board and then people find themselves in trouble with no way out. When you've worked well fro years, why would you suddenly be judged incompetent? The truth is, who is going to be able to work under these conditions and who will actually work? People won't do anything incase they are wrong. We need some sense .