Thousands of workers who became unemployed following the closure of High Street store Woolworths have lose their case for compensation.
The news comes following a decision by the European court of justice (ECJ) means that 3,200 ex-employees of Woolworth.
24,000 former staff of Woolworths were awarded compensation worth 60 days’ pay because the stores had been closed without consultation as a result of the financial crisis that affected numerous companies across the UK.
As some employees were granted compensation 3,200 former members of staffs case went to the ECJ due to the fact that their shops had fewer than 20 members of staff.
Under UK law those in smaller stores did not qualify for compensation.
Fight For Compensation
Many of the workers had been fighting for compensation since 2008.
Usdaw’s general secretary, John Hannett, said: “This decision marks the end of the road for our members from Woolworths and Ethel Austin seeking justice.
“Our case is morally and logically robust, so today’s verdict is a kick in the teeth. It is unfair and makes no sense that workers in stores of less than 20 employees were denied compensation, whereas their colleagues in larger stores did qualify for the award.
“These were mass redundancy 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.”
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