Construction union UCATT has described the decision by administrators Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to make 711 workers redundant at Rok, as "hasty" and has condemned the use of conference calls to inform workers that they were losing their jobs.

The company entered administration on Monday November 8th and the redundancies were announced yesterday Wednesday November 10th.

Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "This decision by the administrators to announce these redundancies so quickly is very disappointing. This is a hasty decision and more time should have been allowed to see how many of these jobs could have been saved."

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UCATT are very disturbed to learn that some of the workers only discovered they were losing their jobs via conference call. The use of conference calls to tell workers they were being made redundant was highly controversial during the collapse of Connaught in September.

Mr Ritchie added: "It appears that PwC have learnt nothing since the Connaught debacle. Telling workers by conference call that they are losing their jobs is both cruel and callous. It causes workers undue distress at an already incredibly stressful time. This is no way to treat workers in the 21st Century and the practice must be ended."

The decision to make workers redundant raises questions over whether the administrators have correctly applied redundancy laws, including the requirement to inform and consult staff before making large-scale redundancies.

Mr Ritchie further added: "Workers faced with losing their jobs must be treated fairly and the law must followed. If our members have not been treated properly we will pursue all possible means to rectify the issue."

(CD/KMcA)