The true cost of the collapse of Thomas Cook to the taxpayer is likely to be “far higher” the £156 million reported by the government’s watchdog, a union has claimed.
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, which represented retail staff in Thomas Cook branches, also warned that coronavirus “threatens the existence of high street travel shops.”
The National Audit Office revealed that ministers agreed to pay £83 million towards the cost of repatriation, as well as £58 million in redundancy and related payments after the company collapsed in September.
The TSSA claimed at the time that it would have been cheaper to step in the save Thomas Cook, as well as saving thousands of jobs.
General secretary Manuel Cortes said: “Our union argued tooth and nail that rescuing Thomas Cook would have been better value for money, protected jobs and customers who had to be repatriated.
“This report from the NAO only tells half the story, however, it talks only about the cost of repatriation and the initial costs of the company going under.
“We must bear in mind that taxpayers covered redundancy payments to workers and other staff costs like unpaid wages and some people are sadly still receiving benefits as they remain unemployed and our members have a number outstanding claims in employment tribunals.
“The only conclusion to draw therefore is that the bill for failing to keep Thomas Cook afloat when there was ample opportunity to do so is still unfolding and is likely to be far higher than the £156 million figure being quoted today.”
He added: “The lessons of Thomas Cook must be learned as we face the coronavirus crisis which threatens the very existence of the high streets travel shops.
“The government must act now to stop that from happening and I have already made representation to the Department for Transport about this.”