More than 200 workers (some with more than 30 years service) are angry that after just 38 days of ownership, Tulip closed down the Tranfoods meat packaging site earlier this month.
Unite says that last year’s enhanced redundancy terms should apply, which the new management refuses to pay. The company is now also refusing to pay lieu of notice in a lump sum, unless workers accept statutory minimum redundancy pay. If the employees took the redundancy payment on a week-by-week basis, this would prevent them seeking other work.
Unite regional officer, Franny Joyce said: “The arrogance of this company and its representatives is unbelievable. They have taken workers’ jobs, locked them out, and disgracefully taken 50% of their redundancy pay by not agreeing to the enhanced redundancy terms. Now managers are trying to bribe them to go quietly or they will prevent them from trying to get a new job for the duration of their notice period.
“Delegates attending the Ethical Trading Initiative’s annual meeting were astonished to hear that such a large employer in the UK would treat its workers in this way and wondered if it could stoop any lower. Well, now we have the answer.
“This issue could be resolved quite easily, if only this company would treat its employees with the respect their long-service requires. Unite will now be calling on Danish Crown (Tulip’s parent company) to intervene and bring this appalling treatment of its Birkenhead employees to an end.”
Tulip has said that it was moving production in the Wirral to Bodmin in Cornwall.
Source: Unite
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