John McDonnell MP urges Business Secretary of State Vince Cable to launch an inquiry into the behaviour of Parcel Delivery Firm City Link Limited and its owners

Following the announcement of 2536 redundancies, 112 of them in West Drayton, as City Link Limited went into administration John McDonnell MP wrote to the Secretary of State urging him to intervene and explore with the union all avenues possible to protect the jobs of the workers whose livelihoods were at risk.

The company entered administration on Christmas Eve as a result of ‘continued substantial losses’ although employees were not notified until an announcement on Christmas Day.

This was despite the Union being advised by the administrators at a subsequent meeting on 27 December that the company had been working with insolvency advisors since November without telling the staff or their union and also that the company was declared technically insolvent on the 22nd December.

The Uxbridge Gazette reported that administrators turned down an offer from an unnamed consortium to buy the business, saying the bid ‘offered no money up front and significantly undervalued the assets to be acquired.’

Mick Cash, general secretary of trade union RMT, called the decision to reject the offer a ‘disgraceful and cynical betrayal that will wreck the lives of our members, many of whom are owed thousands of pounds.’

He added: “RMT does not believe that those pulling the strings had any interest in saving this business and were happy to cut and run, leaving a trail of human misery in their wake. The City Link collapse has blown the lid off the cosy relationship ?between bandit capitalism and the political elite”.

In his letter to Vince Cable John McDonnell concluded saying “The way in which these workers have been treated is a disgrace. No company should be allowed to treat their workers so brutally.”