Thousands of workers from bust high-street stores lose bid for payout
THOUSANDS of workers at high-street stores which went out of business have lost a long battle for compensation.
A decision by the European Court of Justice means that 3,200 ex-employees of Woolworths and 1,200 former staff at Ethel Austin will not receive any money.
The workers missed out because they were based in stores employing fewer than 20 st aff, whereas their colleagues in larger sites qualified for compensation.
Their union said they were heartbroken by an ECJ ruling that what happened to them was valid.
S hopworker s ’ u n ion Usdaw has been fighting for compensation since Woolworths collapsed in 2008. Clothing chain Ethel Austin went out of business five years ago
Under UK law, workers in smaller stores are excluded from an obligation to consult over redundancies and do not qualify for compensation.
Usdaw’s campaign suffered a setback this year when the ECJ’s advocate general rejected the union’s case.
Union general secretary John Hannett said: “This decision marks the end of the road for our members from Woolworths and Ethel Austin seeking justice and they are heartbroken by the verdict.
“Our case is morally and logically robust, so the verdict is a kick in the teeth. It is unfair and makes no sense that workers in stores of fewer than 20 employees were den ie d c omp en s at ion , whereas their colleagues in larger stores did qualify for the award.
“These were mass redun- dancy situations where one central decision was made to close the whole company down, with no individual analysis of the viability of each store on a case-by-case basis.”
Mr Hannett said questions should be asked about the conduct of government ministers, whom he accused of “siding” with administrators against low-paid workers.
He said: “We can now only pin our hopes on the election of a Labour government to prevent this happening again to other workers in small stores who are made redundant without proper consultation.
“Only Labour has pledged legislation so that in largescale redundancy situations, workers from all workplaces affected will be treated as part of the same consultation.”
Katja Hall, the CBI’s deputy director general, said: “This is a victory for common sense and will be welcomed by firms across the UK.
“The case has dragged on for nearly two years and the uncertainty caused has created additional and costly burdens for British businesses.
“This decision has given certainty to the law and restored consultation to genuine cases of collective redundancy.”
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