About 300 sacked workers are among the 700 staff who have applied for voluntary redundancy at beleaguered airport caterer Gate Gourmet.
The airline caterer, which sacked 667 staff in August after a wildcat strike at Heathrow Airport, needs to axe 675 of its 1,400 jobs to put its UK business back in the black. It agreed the terms of the redundancy drive with the T&G union.
A spokeswoman for the T&G said the fate of about 200 workers branded militant activists by the company was likely to remain a sticking point in future talks. It is not known how many of the alleged activists, which the company does not want back, have applied for redundancy.
Meanwhile, the fired workers joined rallies organised by their American counterparts in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles this week, which called for their reinstatement.