Facing redundancy.

Hi, this is my first time , I hope all that I put here is clear, If not then I do apologise.

I currently work for a very well known rail corporation and have been in their employment for nearly 10 years. My story starts back in the beginning of October of 2010 when on returning back to work from 2 weeks annual leave. I recieved a text message from my fellow work colleague stating that our office is closing on the 31st December 2010. Obviously this was somewhat of a shock and so I then made a few phone calls to find out what was going on. I spoke to a Union rep. who confirmed that a meeting had been held in September 2010 and that 2 other locations were due for closure, including his. What is also annoying is that when I put this to one of the managers asking why someone from the company hadn't informed us, he said it was the Union's responsibility, my argument is that the I'm not employed by the Union. This is where it becomes extremely confusing

I was informed that after the 31st December I and those affected by this news would be put onto "Garden leave" until the 31st March, this hasn't happened as I'm still rostered to come into work. Nothing in writing has been recieved to date outlining consultations/closed lists etc. One of the other locations up for closure has has a repreive for the time being, while management make a decision whether to close it, or close another location instead, or close both locations and then create a totally "new" location and have those who have been affected fight for the 4 "new" but the same jobs. The main problem regarding this is that no one will be getting any kind of consultation/closed list offers until that decision has been made which I've been informed wont be made on, or after the 24th January 2011.

It has been confirmed by the Union that my location will definately close. It seems extremely unfair that myself and my colleague won't get any consultation until management make up their minds regarding the other locations. Time is now getting short to apply for internal or external jobs. There are less than 12 people affected so I would have thought we would be having individual consultations rather than "group" which the company is seeking to do.

I did write a very emotional email to the Manager who is handling this and expressed my dissappointment, to which he replied and apologised for the way it had been handled, which is something, but doesn't give him or the company the excuse to treat those affected in the way they have. I realise there is a line between emotional reaction and professionalism but this really is no excuse.

So, cutting out the emotional stuff, have I and my colleagues some recourse regarding this, or is it we just have to lump it?

Many thanks.

The failure here is almost certainly not with management - they are correct and it is with your union. Companies like yours have collective agreements. The "deal" with these is that management talk to the union(s) and nobody else! So management will be telling the union (and negotiating with them) and the union should be telling you what is going on. And the union should be getting views from the members (you) to inform their negotiations. I would suggest that size 10's or above should be tram,ped all over your union officials until they do their job right!

I agree that the Union is seemingly acting quite useless at this time, but then so is the company. It is a shared "cock up" but lets just say I wasn't in the Union, who would be responsible for telling me all that's meant to be happenning?
The manager who is responsible for this round of redundancies has openly admitted it hasn't been dealt with correctly on his part and apologised.
The Union basically rolled over regarding the closure of 2 locations one of which is where I work, stating that they would be "blown out of the water" trying to save our jobs, however, those same Union reps have fought tooth and nail to save their own bacon, as it was proposed that their location also close, and still may. My gripe is that the company and yes the Union have had nearly 4 months to sort this mess out, and in the meantime, those affected have had to sit it out worrying about what is happenning next, which is totally unjustified and unfair.

I agree that it's unfair, but unfortunately the arrangements in law for collective agreements mean that non-union members are often left out in the cold because the arrangements specify that the recognised unions are the ones with whom consultation and negotiations take place. That means that non-union members have no right to be involved at all. In law the only right to individual consultation is when ones post is identified as being a risk, and I am not sure from what you have said if this has actually occurred. When and if it does the employer must consult with you - for what it is worth, because by that stage, the arrangements will be finalised with the union and there will be little left to consult over.

No consultation regarding redundancy pay or other offers of work have taken place between myself and the company to date. Out of the 3 locations that have been earmarked for closure, only 2 have been confirmed as closing, and one of those is where I work, there is some debate going on regarding the third and this will or should be made clear on or after the 24th January. Considering that there are only 10 weeks until the 31st March of which is when I will be out of work I fear that time is fast running out. Am I not entitled to at least one weeks notice for each year I've worked for the company? Many thanks for your replies by the way.

As far as I can see, no matter what they say, you are ahead of yourself. Simply because your work location will close (decision made) does not mean that you will be made redundant. You cannot be served notice until you are made redundant - so I cannot see how they can achieve this timeline. If they retain the third location, one of the most obvious first options is that a selection process ought to take place to decide who gets jobs in that location. It is in no way clear that it should be the people already working there! The amount of notive depnds on your age and your contractual terms (the latter may be better than the set ones). But in one sense, I would suggest that you worry less about what the employer hasn't done. If they have served / do serve you notice and then fail to talk to you about all these things, and fail to consider your for other jobs, or get the process wrong about possible selection pools for other jobs - that's hardly your problem as it would contribute to an unfair dismissal / unfair selction for redundancy claim! I know it is difficult not to worry about these things - but the longer they muddle and get confused, at the very least, the longer it will take them (and the more pay you will get - every weeks pay counts!)