Thomas Cook staff demand 'way out of line'

THE DEMAND of former Thomas Cook workers for redundancy pay of eight weeks per year of service is “unreasonable and way out of line with the market”, the company’s UK and Ireland chief executive has claimed.

In his first interview since the dispute arose which led to a lock-out at its Grafton Street premises in Dublin, Pete Constanti said the original redundancy terms of five weeks per year of service plus a month’s salary was “generous” and in line with industry norms.

“It is not just us that considers it to be generous because we benchmarked, we looked at what other companies have done recently and you see that a lot of companies are offering statutory and nothing more,” he said. Both Thomas Cook management and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), which represents most of the 77 workers who will be made redundant, have agreed to go to the Labour Relations Commission tomorrow, having failed to reach agreement on any improved redundancy offer.

The decision by the company to close its two shops in Ireland, one on Grafton Street and Direct Holidays on Talbot Street, led to public protests and a ballot for industrial action. Thomas Cook estimates the shops were losing €1 million a year. It culminated in a lock-in at the Grafton Street premises on Friday last week which resulted in the arrest of 16 former staff occupying the premises who were only released after they purged their contempt in court.

Mr Constanti said he acknowledged there was genuine anger among staff, but the TSSA had been involved in “whipping that up”. He accused the union of jeopardising the existing redundancy deal by engaging in illegal activities.

“There is an offer on the table for an orderly close down of the store and clearly a lock-in cannot be described as an orderly close down of the store,” he said.

“The saddest point of what happened there is that potentially those actions disadvantaged the people themselves. I struggle to see how a union, which is supposed to act in the best interests of its members, can be supporting actions that could potentially seriously disadvantage those very same members.”

Mr Constanti said he stood by the decision to close the store immediately on Friday, July 31st, a month earlier than planned, a decision which led to the lock-in.

He said protests, including one with a camel outside the Catholic church attended by the company’s chief-executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa in London and a demonstration on O’Connell Street, were “highly-targeted, highly-personal and it was starting to impact our ability to service our customers”.

He acknowledged there had been some damage to the reputation of Thomas Cook in Ireland as a result of the episode, but said the company had done the right thing.

“Is PR important? Yes, of course it is, but we can’t be bullied or intimidated by people. It is regrettable. There is no doubt about it, but equally we have to keep it in perspective.”

Mr Constanti said the company wanted to bring the issue to a close, but refused to be drawn on whether it would be making an enhanced offer tomorrow.

“Our priority is to get through this process, to reach a settlement with our people, and to move on, so they can move on as well.”

TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said the company’s unwillingness to pay an extra three weeks’ redundancy contrasted with the £7 million its chief executive earned last year.

He said the extra three weeks’ redundancy would only cost the company €450,000.