A LEGAL opinion by the European Court of Justice has gone against former Woolworths and Ethel Austin workers living in Trafford.

Advocate General Wahl, has today published an opinion on trade union Usdaw’s case for Woolworths and Ethel Austin members in stores of less that 20 staff to be included in the protective awards against both companies.

The union is seeking the awards for 3,200 Woolworths workers and 1,200 Ethel Austin worker made redundant after both firm went out of business.

The Advocate General delivers an initial opinion on cases, which the court is not obligated to follow, but it does have an impact on the final decision in many cases.

Reacting to the opinion, John Hannett, Usdaw's general secretary said: ‘It is disappointing that we have not been able to persuade Advocate General Wahl of the merits of our case, which is morally and logically robust.

"However, this is only an opinion and we are now pinning our hopes on the final judgement.

"It makes no sense that workers in stores of less than 20 employees were denied compensation, whereas their colleagues in larger stores did qualify for the award.

"These were mass redundancy situations where one central decision was made to close the whole company down, with no individual analysis of the viability of each store on a case-by-case basis."

‘The companies, through their administrators, have already been shown to have operated illegally by failing to consult about the redundancies with the workforce and their trade union Usdaw."

"A protective award was made by an employment tribunal and workers in stores of over 20 staff were paid years ago. Justice for the staff in stores of less than 20 employees is long overdue."

A final decision, which could still be months away, has wider implications for other workers made redundant at firms, which include Comet, Jessops, and Phones-4-U.