Thomas Cook: Irish police raid Dublin shop, arrest protesting workers

Employees who had been occupying a branch of Thomas Cook in Grafton Street, Dublin, were arrested in the morning of 4 August 2009 after ignoring a High Court order to vacate the premises.

 

The workers, who started the sit-in last Friday, were protesting about redundancy packages and the decision to close the two Thomas Cook branches in the city.

 

Some 20 workers and officials of their union (TSSA), including at least one pregnant woman, were arrested at around 5am in the morning after defying the High Court order issued the evening before. They were due to appear in court at 2pm.

 

During the court hearing, the judge congratulated one of the Thomas Cook employees on the birth of her baby. She gave birth to a girl in hospital shortly after her arrest for defying his court order to vacate the Thomas Cook shop on Grafton Street, Dublin.

 

Throughout the protest, Thomas Cook had stressed its willingness to talk to the workers about a redundancy deal. Following the latest developments in the dispute, it is unclear whether that offer will still be on the table.

 

The company has fiercely denied suggestions that the Dublin branch shutdowns are just the start of a major closure programme of more than 160 shops across the UK.

 

The events have to be seen against the general background of the situation in the company, as reports in German media in the recent weeks indicate. At the end of June it was reported that the Thomas Cook Group PLC will cut approximately 2,600 jobs (according to FAZ.net and ARD online). At the end of July it was reported that the creditor banks, in connection with the insolvency of the parent company Arcandor, intend to sell the shares pledged by them, i.e. 43.9% of all shares of the Thomas Cook Group PLC (finanzen.net). This is evidently the classic strategy to prepare the sale: achieving a higher price through sharp staff redundancies. Mistakes of the previous Arcandor management will be once again unloaded on the backs of the workers.

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