City Link collapse: union meets administrators in effort to save jobs
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Version 0 of 1. Union officials are holding crunch talks with administrators for City Link in an attempt to save thousands of jobs following the parcel delivery firm’s collapse. The RMT will meet administrators Ernst and Young in the hope they can strike a deal to prevent nearly 3,000 job losses. The move comes after City Link announced on Christmas Day that it was going into administration after years of “substantial losses”. Officials were due to meet in Leeds on Saturday afternoon to discuss the fate of the firm’s 2,727 staff, and union bosses vowed to stay in talks for as long as it takes to salvage jobs. The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “RMT’s objective now is to do everything we can to rescue jobs in the wake of the shock collapse into administration of City Link on Christmas Day. “Despite the festive season there can be no delays in getting on with the rescue programme and we expect the government through Vince Cable to take an active role right now. “The thousands of workers caught in the middle of this crisis deserve full support from every quarter.” The union has demanded urgent talks with Cable, the business secretary, and said it is disappointed the minister has only pledged to meet them in the new year. Coventry-based City Link, which is understood to have counted John Lewis among its largest clients, expects numerous redundancies after no buyer could be found to bail it out. The RMT said it believed there may have been “more cynical motives” behind the decision to “delay” the announcement until Christmas Day and demanded an investigation. City Link operations have been suspended at all its depots until Monday, when customers and those expecting deliveries will be able to collect their parcels. Investment firm Better Capital, led by veteran venture capitalist Jon Moulton, bought the courier group for just £1 in April last year from the previous owner, pest control firm Rentokil. A number of staff will be retained to help return parcels to customers and help with winding down the company, Ernst and Young said. |