"Melbourne Age" Breaking News
Staff distressed as news filters through. .February 27 2002
Union leaders rushed to the Ansett headquarters in Melbourne today after receiving calls from "very distressed" staff as news of the collapsed Tesna sale deal leaked out.
Australian Services Union state secretary Martin Foley said staff had been calling the union since yesterday as speculation over the deal heightened.
Calls continued overnight and this morning as the first reports confirming the collapse came out.
Mr Foley said staff were very distressed. Union leaders including ACTU secretary Greg Combet were meeting with administrators to see what could be salvaged from the collapse.
The administration has been losing over $6 million a week over the past month after agreeing to put off the sale deadline at Tesna's request.
Confused staff at the Ansett headquarters were waiting for information about the situation with meetings to be held with unions there and at the airport later today.
The Tesna syndicate, headed by millionaire businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, confirmed today they had pulled out of the deal.