A UNION has lodged legal claims for the workforce at a former Belfast print firm after staff were allegedly laid off with no notice or redundancy payments.
The action is being taken on behalf of workers at Mallusk-based Nicholson & Bass, 14 of whom have been dismissed and eight of whom have been offered employment under what Unite insists is "significantly reduced terms and conditions".
Unite says it has been "highly concerned" by the approach taken by owners the Bradley Group since it acquired the Nicholson & Bass business in 2017.
The move stems from a restructuring at the businesses in August that involved all employees of Nicholson & Bass and sister subsidiary Quinns Belfast (2009) being made redundant and effectively having to reapply for new jobs at Bradley Group (NI).
Bradley Group (NI) was only incorporated on August 5 this year, with its principal director being Peter Bradley (30), former managing director of the old Bradley Group.
When news of the redundancies originally emerged in August, the company issued a statement advising employees who worked for either Nicholson & Bass Ltd or Quinns Belfast (2009) Ltd to contact an English-based insolvency solutions firm.
Bradley blamed the situation on "very tough trading conditions through 2017/18, the uncertainty around Brexit and the fall in the value of sterling."
Yesterday Unite's regional officer Brian Hewitt confirmed that his union would be initiating legal claims for workers at Nicholson & Bass.
He said: “Unite has been highly concerned by the approach taken by the new owners of Nicholson & Bass since they acquired the business in 2017. We warned then that there appeared to be a strategy to undermine workers’ pay and terms & conditions. At the time of the transfer it was only the threat of strike action that forced the owners to respect the workforce’s rights under TUPE legislation.
“Unfortunately management in the company have resorted to their previous agenda. In recent weeks 14 staff were made redundant with no notice and eight were subsequently forced into re-employment on much reduced terms and conditions and pensions. This is a clear denial of their employment rights and Unite will be pursuing this through the courts.”
He added: “The behaviour of the owners of this company must and will be challenged in the courts.”
Established in 1938, Nicholson Bass was a traditional letterpress printer and box maker company which went on to become a renowned third-generation family owned business
