n By Hajera Blagg


Shock job losses rage Unite fury as workers sacked by Zoom


It was a shock horror morning for Stewart Milne construction workers turning up for work – only to be told they were to be given the push – BY ZOOM.


Housebuilder Stewart Milne was the latest firm to collapse into administration in January. The headline number of job losses –220 direct roles – hides the massive human toll the company’s failure will take.


In the wider supply chain, job losses could run into hundreds if not thousands more.


The news, Unite regional co-ordinating officer Steven Dillon said, came as a huge shock to the workforce. “They turned up for work one morning and were immediately told they’d be getting a Zoom call,” he said. “Stewart Milne, the owner of the company gets on the call and breaks the news – that they’ve got no jobs, no pay. The news came totally without warning. It was an utter disgrace.”


Steven slammed the company for the way it has treated its workers, many of whom have worked for Stewart Milne for decades.


“A company doesn’t wake up one morning and fall into administration,” he told buildingWORKER. “They knew for months that this might happen and they could have consulted with the workforce. Workers could have come up with a rescue plan – but they weren’t given the opportunity.”


Unite acted swiftly – the union immediately began exploring the possibility of legal action against the company for its failure to consult the workforce. Steven and his colleagues,


Unite officers John Clark and George Ramsay, worked tirelessly alongside Unite Scotland staff to set up a series of meetings within days of Stewart Milne’s collapse.


Unite held meetings in cities across Scotland to support and inform affected workers and the union is also working with affected apprentices to place them in other businesses. “We’ve been working round the clock to help workers and their families,” Steven said.


Unite has also demanded that the government step up to the plate. In the days after the collapse, the Scottish government’s initiative for


Zoom horror news – Stewart Milne workers sacked


responding to redundancy situations, called the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) said it would set up remote ‘webinars’ for affected workers.


“We at Unite immediately intervened and kicked up a stink – we spoke to ministers telling them that a remote webinar is simply not good enough,” Steven noted.


Thanks to the pressure Unite piled on the Scottish government, PACE agreed to host face-to-face meetings with workers.


Steven said Unite is now pushing forward by lodging employment tribunal claims through its solicitors, and he urged any worker affected by the Stewart Milne collapse who has not yet contacted Unite to get in touch. “We will not rest until our members get the justice they deserve,” Steven said.


get in touch If this affects you contact


the branch at: steven.dillon@unitetheunion.org


8 Unite buildingWORKER Spring 2024


Alamy


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32