Usdaw appalled at 30,000 Woolworths redundancies.

Shopworkers’ union, Usdaw, is appalled at the news that all Woolworths stores will close by the 4 January with the loss of 30,000 jobs, if no buyer is found in the next couple of days.

There are plans for a phased store closure programme which will start with 207 stores closing on 27 December; 200 on 30 December; 200 on 2 January; and 200 on 4 January. Every store will be given just 10 days’ notice before they close and staff will be asked to work up to three days after their store closes to clear up. The Union and Woolworths staff will be notified of the locations of the phased store closures in four stages over the next few days.

John Gorle, Usdaw National Officer, said:

“We are shocked that staff will only be given 10 days notice of store closures and deeply disappointed by the news that no buyer has yet been found for Woolworths. Redundancy is devastating at any time of the year, but particularly so at Christmas.

“We have been informed by the administrators that the leases of up to 300 stores will be sold. This is terrible news, as it means that our members will be made redundant and not transferred to the new owners of these 300 leases as they are announced.

“In anticipation of redundancies we sent out a detailed letter to our members at the end of last week, giving information on their rights. We are currently talking with the administrators to secure the best possible terms for our members with regards to pensions, holiday pay and the speed of receipt of redundancy pay.

“We have also called on the Government to ensure that its rapid response teams at the local Job Centres will be ready to help staff to find new employment as quickly as possible.

“Worried members should contact their Usdaw reps or the local union office and comply with instructions from their store managers.

“This is an extremely distressing time and we will be doing everything we can to make sure our members are treated fairly.”

John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary added:

“I am personally devastated for the 30,000 Woolworths staff and our members can rest assured we will do everything we can to assist them at this difficult time. The Woolworths staff are extremely loyal, dedicated and well trained and wherever vacancies exist in the retail sector we will use our contacts to find alternative employment as speedily as possible.”

Notes to Editors:

• Contacts for newsdesks: Usdaw’s Media Officer, Cherry Hamilton, can be contacted on 0161 249 2469 or e-mail cherry.hamilton@usdaw.org.uk
• Usdaw (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK’s fourth biggest trade union, with over 371,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
• More information and news releases are available at our online Newsroom.
• Subscribe/unsubscribe to Usdaw news releases via our online e-news service at: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/site/email.html

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