Employers May Be Too Quick To Lay People Off Through Redundancy Damaging The Skills Base Of Their Organisations Warns GMB

Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary said, “Employers may be too quick to lay people off through redundancy thereby damaging the skills base of their organizations. If they follow the consultation arrangements, as required by law, they often give trades unions an opportunity to explore real alternatives to redundancy. GMB was able to do this at JCB. The Government needs to make people aware of their rights to consultation as the speed of the slowdown gathers pace. They should also make it harder for employers like JJB Sports to classify each shop as a separate workplace to evade the 90 day consultation requirement when more than 100 redundancies are contemplated.

The recent cut in interest rates should help too. The Chancellor is right to spend money to keep people in work rather than spend money on unemployment benefit. He needs to keep the pedal to the metal in terms of spending on regeneration. This is also an ideal economic opportunity for the Government to kick start it social housing programme in that unsold blocks of private sector housing should be acquired and added to the social housing stock.”

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Contact: Maria Ludkin, GMB Legal Officer on 07809 583014 or GMB Press Office: Steve Pryle on 07921 289880 or Rose Conroy on 07974 251823.