Unite wins tribunal with print companies

Unite has won a failure to consult an unfair dismissal claim for members that worked at a number of companies owned by former print owner Phillip Moore.

However, as the companies have all closed, the payment will have to come from the Redundancy Payment Office (RPO).

A series of court hearings have occurred, relating to the companies, which include Thanet Press, Thanet Publishing and GC Print.

In all cases, members were awarded the maximum 90-day protective award in respect of the failure to consult on redundancies and the maximum 13-week protective award in respect of the failure to consult with regard to TUPE.

The Tribunal for Thanet Press also found that the members were unfairly dismissed and to date has awarded compensation in excess of £360,000. However, the payments will amount to approximately £60,000, with the members listed as unsecured creditors for the balance.

Initially the Union submitted claims for unfair dismissal on behalf of 20 members who worked for GC Print, which was originally called Westwood Press, part of a group of companies called the Graham Cumming Group.

According to Unite national officer Steve Sibbald, many of the members had worked for Westwood Press for 15 or more years. In 2006 Pharosian Investments, where Moore was the major shareholder, acquired the Graham Cumming Group and subsequently changed the name of Westwood Print to GC Print.

The union said that in March 2009 Moore purchased Thanet Press and informed employees at both sites that he intended to merge the two factories by 2011.

A Unite statement said: "On 30 July 2009, members reported for work only to be told that the company had gone into liquidation. There had been no prior warning that their positions were at risk and the members were dismissed without any consultation. Liquidators were appointed to wind down the business."

Unite said that GC Print's diary production was transferred to Thanet Press; when the union made a claim against the new company, Moore informed Thanet Press employees that liquidators had been appointed to wind up that company and that they were to be dismissed with immediate effect, according to the union, again without consultation. Unite again put in claims against the company for failure to consult.

According to Unite, the diary production had again been transferred to another Moore company, Thanet Publishing, which was placed into liquidation in January 2012, again without prior warning.