Butcher's Block job losses 'show workers at end of queue when it comes to liquidation'
(Left to right) Butchers Block staff Alexsandra Emilia Bednarz, Ewa Swiniarska and Gitana Prochoroviene who were laid off by text message an hour before they were to report for work at the Blackpool Shopping Centre in Cork. Picture; David Creedon
The TD behind proposed new worker rights laws has asked an Oireachtas committee to speed up its work to ensure the bill is enacted soon.
Socialist Party TD Mick Barry spoke out on Tuesday after meeting staff affected by the shock closure of two butchers' stores in Cork. He said the job losses at The Butcher's Block highlight the shocking lack of workers' rights in a liquidation situation in this country.
A total of 15 workers at the outlets in Douglas and Blackpool shopping centres lost their jobs overnight last weekend by text, and have been left without redundancy, back pay, overtime or holiday pay.
Most were told at 7am on Friday not to come to work at 8am because the business was closed and would be placed in liquidation in due course. Mr Barry said one couple who worked in the shops are owed approximately €1,500 in unpaid wages and holiday pay alone.
The company blamed “the severe economic conditions” and said in an email to staff that due to the dire financial position of the company, it could not pay any entitlements due to employees, including holiday pay, back week pay and statutory redundancies.
The firm said it was arranging for the appointment of a liquidator in the next few weeks.
“The liquidator will be able to arrange, with the dept of social welfare, for the payment of your statutory entitlements, however, this will unavoidably take several weeks to arrange,” it said.
"We suggest that you contact the local social welfare office to claim your benefits as soon as possible. Please let us know of any paperwork you may need from us in order to process your claim with the minimum of delay.”
The company has not responded to requests for comment.
Mr Barry said the law of the land still states that should a company go into liquidation, the workers will not be at the front of the queue when it comes to payment of debts.
In the wake of the Debenhams closure in April 2020, and the marathon 407-day picket of Irish stores by the affected staff, Mr Barry proposed a new bill known as the 'Debenhams Bill' which would put workers to the top of the queue when it comes to payment of debt in a liquidation situation.
Mr Barry said it has been stalled at third stage where it has yet to be fully processed by the Oireachtas Enterprise Trade and Employment Committee.
Following his meeting with former Butcher’s Block staff, he said he will write to the committee asking that it speed up its deliberations on the bill in the light of events at The Butcher's Block, and the wave of redundancies now underway.
"Workers at The Butcher's Block have been treated disgracefully by their employer and it is doubly disgraceful in that the government have failed to put in place the protections that are needed for workers in a liquidation situation,” he said.
“The 'Debenhams Bill' needs to become the law of the land and I will be writing to the Oireachtas Enterprise Trade and Employment Committee today asking them to speed up their work in relation to it."
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