South Antrim Ulster Unionist MLA Danny Kinahan has raised concerns that ex-employees of the courier service City Link, which went into administration at Christmas, are not being treated equitably in terms of their redundancy claims.
Mr Kinahan said:
“Twenty three City Link employees based at Nutts Corner in my South Antrim constituency were, without notice, thrown out of work when the company went into administration at Christmas.
“Because the Coventry based company had become insolvent, no prior consultation with the employees had been entered into, and they had to approach the administrators Ernst and Young and apply to a Government sponsored National Insurance Fund scheme for some sort of redundancy payment.
“A major lobby was made by mainland MPs to ensure that their constituents were given priority treatment in processing their claims, but I am very disappointed to learn that ex City Link employees in Northern Ireland have run into red tape and bureaucratic delays. Many of the former City Link employees in Scotland, England and Wales who applied to the scheme have already received payments.
“I have tabled a series of questions to the Minister for Employment and Learning at Stormont, and expect urgent and positive action to counter the growing perception amongst the former workers at Nutts Corner that their claims are not being treated with the same degree of urgency as their compatriots in the rest of the UK. We must not be treated as second class British citizens.”