Usdaw appalled at 30,000 Woolworths redundancies
Shopworkers’ union, Usdaw, has said it 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.’
