Union closes in on Evesham

The sudden redundancies at stricken system builder Evesham technology have alerted the attention of the GMB union, which met the remaining Evesham employees as they arrived for work this morning.

Roger Jenkins, the Birmingham and West Midlands regional organiser of the GMB, spoke exclusively to PC Retail. "We want to recruit remaining employees to protect them from a similar fate to their former colleagues," he said, adding that "every employee spoken to was receptive and thankful."

In a statement yesterday, Evesham chairman Richard Austin said: "Around 150 loyal and hardworking Evesham staff have also unavoidably lost their jobs…as it stands 138 people are still employed here at Evesham." Jenkins reported that the GMB only counted around 70 this morning, however.

The GMB also intends to campaign on behalf of those sacked on Friday, with Jenkins claiming: "There was no consultation or pre-warning; we will be looking into the legality of this."

Apparently, on Friday, the Evesham employees were separated into two groups, with one led upstairs and told they still had a job and the others told they didn’t. Jenkins claimed many employees working on site were told "don’t bother coming back."

The GMB will be lobbying administrators DTE Leonard Curtis get preferential creditor status for the sacked employees.

Jenkins and a former employee have both confirmed that there will be a further meeting between the GMB and both current and former employees tomorrow, but have asked PC Retail to keep the time and place secret to prevent potential interference from Evesham.

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