Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This weekend 15 workers from the Butcher's Block shops in Cork were told their jobs were gone. They were made redundant by text message. Some workers went in to find the shops had been cleared out and the doors locked. They were told that no statutory holiday or redundancy pay would be paid. The workers were advised that the process for the Government to pay redundancy would take weeks and they should go to their local social welfare office for an urgent needs payment. It is six weeks out from Christmas. I know some of these people personally. Some of them have worked in the company for 18 and 20 years and this is how they are being treated by employers. Once again, we have a situation where workers are at the bottom of the list when it comes to liquidations when they should be at the top. The workers in the Butcher's Block have done nothing wrong but work hard all of their lives. We are seeing unscrupulous employers in the tech sector and we see it here now.

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