SuperValu staff left in state of shock
LONG TERM EMPLOYEES FEEL BETRAYED BY HOW SITUATION WAS HANDLED
THE workers who lost the jobs with the closure of Supervalu last Friday say they are worried for their future and feel let down at how the situation was handled.
Nine full-time staff who spoke to the Drogheda Independent this week said they are worried about future employment and paying bills as the expensive run up to Christmas approaches.
They also feel they have been left ‘in limbo’ as a liquidator has not yet been appointed leaving them without a P45 or information on when they will receive the statutory redundancy owed to them.
‘We all have families and mortgages and bills to pay,’ said Mary McGuirk, the designated spokesperson for the workers.
‘I’m on my own, I have a mortgage and two kids. It’s only when you sit and talk about it that it gets in on you. My kids are asking me now ‘are we going to have to leave our house Mammy?’ because I’m there on my own with them.
‘What do you say to that?’ You’re trying to reassure them three weeks before Christmas.’
Explaining how devastated they all are at the prospects of facing the new year without a job, Sabrina Brady said: ‘ January wouldn’t be the best time to go looking for work and the likes of us, it might seem stupid but in my case anyway I don’t know anything other than Supervalu so we’re totally afraid of the unknown.’
The workers have received five weeks pay but are still awaiting news on their P45s and when they will receive the statutory redundancy owed to them.
Local Senator Gerald Nash met with the workers within hours of the shock announcement and vowed to raise the issue in the Seanad. ‘You can see how absolutely shattered everyone is. This is a devastating blow for the workers.’
‘It’s too late for the Supervalu staff in Drogheda, it’s too late for the Clearys workers but we need the law to change to afford more respect and dignity to people in situations like this.’