Union to take legal action against Monarch over job losses

Britain’s largest union, Unite is to take legal action on behalf of the 1,858 Monarch workers who lost their jobs after the airline went in to administration.

The union, which represents the engineers and cabin crew employed by the airline, is lodging employment tribunal proceedings over a failure to consult on redundancies.

Under UK law, employers with more than 100 employees must give a statutory minimum 45 days’ notice of their intention to make people redundant. Employees with two years of service or more are entitled to statutory redundancy pay.

Oliver Richardson, Unite national officer, said: “Through no fault of their own, former Monarch workers are out of pocket and out of a job.

“While, understandably, a lot of the focus is on passengers, Unite is determined to ensure that Monarch workers, who worked so hard to try and turn the airline around, are not left high and dry.

“The manner in which Monarch went into administration and the way the government allowed it happen means there is a strong claim for compensation by former Monarch workers.”

He said the union would be doing everything it could to assist former Monarch workers in securing new jobs, by offering free legal advice and pursuing the legal action to secure them the compensation they are owed.

KPMG, which is acting as administrator, said information regarding redundancy claims has been sent out to all affected Monarch staff.

The administrator has also retained the airline’s 17-strong HR team to help with the redundancy process, as well as continuing to aid the repatriation of passengers abroad.

Almost 400 of those to have lost their jobs were employed at Birmingham Airport.

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