03/08/2009

Travel Agents 'Going Nowhere' Despite Court Action

Thomas Cook staff have vowed to defy a court injunction and continue a sit-in at the company's premises after it was closed by the firm last week.

Staff at the Grafton Street outlet began the sit-in after the travel company announced it would be closing its three Dublin stores, including its Grafton Street office, leaving 77 jobs at risk.

A solidarity protest is also to go ahead tomorrow morning at 10.30am outside the Thomas Cook office on Grafton Street.

Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) launched a protest march in Dublin on Thursday in opposition to the closure and said it wanted urgent talks with the trade union umbrella group, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, to persuade people to blacklist the holiday company, including its 800,000 members.

The High Court have already awarded Thomas Cook a temporary injunction banning the ex-staff from occupying the premises made, while a bid to make the ban permanent was adjourned until this afternoon.

Gerry Doherty, General Secretary of the TSSA travel union said: "The High Court will only rule on the legality of our actions. We know we have already won the moral argument against a rich German owned company which is treating its Irish staff like second class citizens."

The ex-staff began the occupation of the Thomas Cook premises in Grafton Street on Friday after management from the UK came in to close it a month ahead of schedule.

(DW/BMcC)

Related Irish News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

05 August 2009
Thomas Cook Protestors Released By Judge
A High Court judge has ordered the release of Thomas Cook staff arrested after a sit-in protest at the company's premises on Grafton Street. Mr Justice Michael Peart said he fully understood the distress and anger of the workers, who had defied an earlier court order to vacate the premises after staging a four day sit in-protest.
04 August 2009
Thomas Cook Protestors Arrested
Around 30 Thomas Cook workers, who were staging a sit-in protest at the company's Dublin store, have been arrested by Gardaí. The arrests come as the High Court yesterday delivered a ruling yesterday ordering the workers to leave the premises by 7pm.
10 January 2014
Pair In Court Over Thomas Horan Murder
A man in his 20s and a woman in her 30s are due to appear at Dublin District Court this morning, charged in relation to the death of 63-year-old Thomas Horan of Cambridge Court, Ringsend, Dublin 4. Gardaí in Irishtown investigating the murder have renewed their appeal for for witnesses to come forward.
07 August 2014
Gardaí Search For Hit-And-Run Driver
Gardaí are searching for a driver involved in a hit-and-run incident, after a 12-year-old boy was hit while crossing Thomas Davis Street in the Blackpool area at about 21:50. The boy is being treated at Cork University Hospital, where he is said to be in a "comfortable condition".
29 September 2010
Callely Court Date Set For Next Week
The next hearing of Ivor Callely's case against the Seanad Committee over his expenses claims has been scheduled for next Tuesday. Senator Callely took the proceedings after being suspended from the Seanad by the committee for 20 days over a number of allegedly fraudulent expense claims.