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Union agrees hardship payments for Thomas Cook members
Thomas Cook members of the TSSA union are to receive hardship payments of £300 each this week from its benevolent fund.
The union confirmed the payments as it called for the resignation of Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom after she allegedly admitted she had not held any talks with Thomas Cook before its collapse.
Ahead of the second meeting of the Government’s National Taskforce for Thomas Cook in Manchester on Wednesday, TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said Thomas Cook staff must be paid what they are owed ‘in full and without delay’.
None of Thomas Cook’s 9,000 UK employees received their final pay cheque on Monday and they’ve been told it could take about two weeks to receive redundancy pay from the Government’s Insolvency Service.
Some of those now out of work have applied for Universal Credit, but it could be a month or more before they receive any payments.
Cortes said "We are stressing to the Government they must ensure that workers are paid what they are owed in full and without delay.
"This means for the work carried out to the point at which the company went bust – but also redundancy payments and any other entitlements. This is no small beer for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. In many cases it will likely amount to several months’ pay.
"I will be telling ministers and everyone else at the Taskforce meeting – the choice is simple – pay up or be sued."
He added: "I’m pleased to say that not only is our union continuing to fight for Thomas Cook workers by pressing the Government, we are also providing support on jobs and training opportunities and we have now made sure a valuable payment goes to each and every member who was employed at Thomas Cook.
"We are doing this because we want to ensure that these workers can buy food and are able to support their families at this difficult time. This is an act of solidarity brought about by the collective strength of our union and shows why everyone should be in a union.
"We have acted to financially assist our members at Thomas Cook – now the Government must make sure the liquidators do the same."
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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