Gateshead City Council give 90 days notice to all!!

[mach1rob]

Oh no, what a disaster! The council have given everyone 90 days notice, who will empty the bins and clean the streets in 91 days time??

I can hardly see every employee of the council not having a job to come back to after the 90 days, they simply wouldn't get away with making every single person on their payroll redundant, services still need to be carried out, the work will still need to be done, in 90 days time everyone will carry on much as before with new, and the same contract or mildly changed one in place. It's probably why it's not made the papers, it's not really newsworthy.

[Talking Hoarse]

Exactly.
TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment - 1984) legislation is there to protect such circumstances. Basically it says that if your job role is moved (outsourced) to another company, then you have a right to move to that new company along with the role - and that you get to choose whether you keep your original terms & conditions of employment or adopt those of the new employer. TUPE doesn't usually affect pension rights in a negative way.
This legislation would apply to both the Morrisons workers and the council workers including your father. He can only be made redundant if the role itself actually disappears - that's the meaning of the word "redundant" - if the role continues to be required, then he has a right to continue doing it. He can only be fired under certain circumstances, e.g. gross misconduct etc. which I'm sure would not apply.
So nothing to worry about really.

Sadly TUPE doesn't cover pensions properly. I know as I was TUPE'd between employers several times, and one employer would not accept or offer the bulk transfer terms between pension schemes - and so the pensions are frozen with several schemes.
When swapping companies, there is much to lose but also a lot to gain with different experience, new management, new oppurtunities etc etc. However the worst part of all is the fear of what will come when it is 1st announced.
Best wishes indeed to all the affected Gateshead employees.
Ed