Pep Ginard of the CCOO union has cast doubt on how quickly the more than 700 Thomas Cook employees in Palma will be paid. Speaking at a meeting with these employees at the union's Palma offices yesterday evening, Ginard observed that they face a "long and difficult process".
He explained that thirteen representatives need to be elected in order to negotiate with the bankruptcy administrator in the Balearics. This election will be on Friday, and it will be to form what in effect is a works committee. There hadn't been such a committee at the Thomas Cook Palma headquarters.
Ginard then noted that there is as yet no administrator and that even once there is, the administrator will have to follow the requirements of the UK government's Official Receiver (and the Receiver's appointed firms). The Receiver's first tasks, he added, will be to identify all Thomas Cook's worldwide debt to hotels, suppliers and workers.
The administrator will be appointed by the commercial courts in Palma, and the most urgent requirements will be payment of September salaries and maintenance of work activity. This administrator, as and when an appointment is made, will evaluate the assets and liabilities of the Palma company and assess the possibilities for saving it, if only partially.
As well as the employees at the headquarters, there are some 2,500 who are employed by the 23 hotels that Thomas Cook managed in the Balearics. There are, therefore, four other companies for different Thomas Cook hotel brands, and these are in a situation of pre-insolvency, which means they can continue operating while negotiating creditor payments or new financing.