Former Woolworths staff win £67m 'Protective Award' compensation
Saturday, 21 January 2012 10:27
Former Woolworths employees have been granted compensation after shopworkers union Usdaw successfully negotiated £67 million to be shared between 24,000 of the 30,000 former employees.
Woolworths went into administration at the height of the credit crunch in November 2008 and by early January 2009 all its stores had closed.
Udsaw made the successful claim by arguing that administrator had failed in their legal duty to consult with the union before making staff redundant. The Employment Tribunal this week decided to grant a Protective Award and awarded former Woolworth staff compensation of 60 days pay, capped at £330 a week.
John Gorle, Usdaw national officer, said: "While the award is never going to fully compensate people for losing their jobs, I'm sure our members will welcome the money and appreciate the effort Usdaw has made to secure the compensation for them.
However, the compensation payments will not apply to staff who worked in small stores where less than 20 staff were made redundant, affecting around 3,000 staff who worked in 181 smaller stores out of the total of 814.
John Hannett, General Secretary of Udsaw said the union would appeal this part of the judgment.
He said: "My delight at the award for the vast majority of our members is tempered by the clear injustice that workers in smaller stores could miss out."
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