‘High and dry’

Unite, the UK and Ireland’s largest union representing aviation workers, accused the government of leaving workers and customers high and dry while landing taxpayers with a bill for hundreds of millions of pounds following reports that Thomas Cook was going into administration.

Unite represents nearly 3,000 cabin crew and engineers at Thomas Cook’s airline.

Commenting on the collapse of the travel company, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said, “News of the needless collapse of Thomas Cook is devastating for the workforce and customers. Thomas Cook Airlines was a profitable and viable operation with a loyal workforce.

“Instead of stepping in and giving Thomas Cook the breathing space it needed to restructure its finances, the government’s ‘do nothing’ attitude has left workers and customers high and dry while landing taxpayers with a bill of hundreds of millions of pounds,” he added.

“Unite will be meeting the administrator and giving our members maximum support while working to match Thomas Cook Airline workers with other airlines that have vacancies. Unite will also be launching legal action on behalf of our members over a failure to consult on the redundancies that have resulted from the firm’s collapse.”