Wexford employees ‘working for nothing’ at busiest time of year as courier company goes into receivership
Wexford PeopleUp to 40 people in Co Wexford are being asked to “effectively work for nothing” in the run up to Christmas after their employer went into receivership last month. Nuvion Group, which is the parent company of Fastway Couriers, entered receivership on October 29 putting 300 jobs at risk, many of them in south Wexford.
At the November meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC) New Ross councillor Michael Sheehan asked that all those present “stand in solidarity” with the impacted employees.
"Can we write to Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke and Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary and ask them to fast track supports for the 40 families in the county, many of them in New Ross, that are affected by this?” he asked. “They cannot sign on or apply for jobseeker’s allowance because they’re not technically unemployed, and if they do register for benefits they would have to resign from their jobs and won’t qualify for redundancy.”
Outlining the complexity of the situation for staff, Cllr Sheehan said many would have to work for 30 days without pay at what is their busiest time of the year.
“The difficulty is they have to work an additional 30 days for which they will not get paid until their statutory entitlements are worked out. That could take anything from 6-9 weeks after their 30 days are worked, so they are effectively working for nothing, and all this in the run up to Christmas. We need to stand in solidarity with them and contact the ministers to ask them to make a mechanism available for those families who need at least some form of income at this time of year.”
With all councillors in agreement, County Secretary Michael Drea said he would write to the ministers in question expressing WCC support for the couriers.