Axed Game staff occupy shops

All the stores in the Republic of Ireland have been occupied, after staff at the Limerick store began a sit-in. The company has closed all of its Irish stores and a large number of UK outlets, with staff working right up until the lunchtime notice to cease trading arrived.

According to James Daly, a spokesman for the workers in Cork, administrators brought in from PricewaterhouseCoopers have flouted Irish employment law by not giving the required 30 days notice for collective redundancies. Quoted by the Belfast Telegraph, he said, "They just assume the law is the same as the UK. We were told 'Go to the Government and claim your statutory redundancy'. That could take up to a year or 18 months to go through while Game is still trading in the UK.

"We do not want the Irish Government to have to pay for something we believe a company in the UK should pay for."

An ex-employee said “We have been given no forms or advice for claiming state-redundancy and no official notice of unemployment to show for the dole”

Workers also claim administrators gave them handouts on UK redundancy law in the Irish stores.

The company is attempting to move assets from Ireland back the UK in an apparent move to escape Irish creditors. They have not appointed an administrator in Ireland, and staff are sceptical that promises to pay all owed wages will be met, as there has been little communication from the company.

The occupiers' official facebook page can be found here.