Retailers’ body says calls for pay rises are ‘highly irresponsible’

An umbrella body for more than 1,000 retailers has said union calls for pay rises across the industry are “highly irresponsible” when many are struggling to keep their doors open.

Last week, Mandate said a 2% increase secured for its members in Tesco was “a benchmark for other retail employers in Ireland”.

A few days later the union, which represents 45,000 retail and bar workers, revealed it had secured more than €20m in pay increases for its members in only the last two years.

Yesterday, it was reported that the union was set to lodge a claim for a pay rise for 4,000 Penneys workers in the wake of a wage increase at Tesco.

No claim has been lodged as yet, but there was a Labour Court recommendation at the end of 2013 for a pay claim backdated to June of that year. The union would normally expect such a deal to last 12 months, meaning it would seek a further increase in June of this year.

It is understood that the trade union’s national negotiating committee will meet shortly to discuss such a claim.

Retail Excellence Ireland has said it wanted to refute union claims that pay increases were now acceptable in the retail industry.

David Fitzsimons, Retail Excellence Ireland CEO said: “The reality of the situation is that the vast majority of retailers are a million miles away in financial robustness terms from Penneys.

“Most retail companies are working hard to maintain wage levels and are struggling to keep their doors open. We are dealing will closures every day of the week and for pay increase demands to be made at such a fragile time in our domestic economy is highly irresponsible.”

He said that while the majority of retailers plan to work hard to maintain staff entitlements in 2014, of those planning any pay moderation, most are seeking pay reductions.

“Our members greatly value the important role their employees play in such a customer-facing industry,” he said. “However, for retail companies to continue to trade in what is an exceptionally challenging environment, a continued period of pay moderation is required.”