The decision by Marks & Spencer (M&S) to cut over 1,200 jobs has come in for criticism today.
Both the GMB Union and Usdaw displayed concern that managers in some cases have allegedly chosen who is being made redundant and that employees learnt of their fate in the media.
GMB’s general secretary Paul Kenny said: “M&S has been planning this mass sacking for some time and managers have in many cases selected who is going.
“This is against the law and ignores the employment rights of their employees. M&S must now enter into 90-day consultation with their employees before selecting those to be made redundant.”
M&S reported a 7.1% drop in like-for-like sales today.
But while GMB said M&S has been planning the closure of 25 Simply Food stores and redundancies “for some time”, Usdaw showed shock at the timing of the announcement, coming just after new year.
National officer John Gorle said: “We want to know the business case for this decision and are seeking to meet with the company to have urgent meaningful consultation to allow us to fully represent any of our members that may be affected.
“We hope other retailers will not panic and announce major redundancies as their staff are their greatest asset and Usdaw will always encourage companies to take a long term view.
“Retailers will not want to lose experienced and trained staff and also redundancy can be a costly option and also lead to poor morale among the remaining workforce.”
Sir Stuart Rose, M&S chariman said today’s announcement comes as the retailer looks to lower operating costs in the coming year.
GMB yesterday said employees must be given the correct redundancy conditions.
