Dunnes Stores workers may escalate industrial action

Workers at Dunnes Stores may escalate their campaign of industrial action in its row with management of the supermarket chain.

Yesterday, Mandate — the trade union which represents two-thirds of workers in Dunnes Stores — said it would be holding a special disputes committee meeting today to decide on the next course of action.

It follows a day of industrial action held on April 2 which also prompted fallout after Mandate claimed that some of its workers had since been “targeted” by management because of the strike action.

Yesterday, Mandate said it had compiled a dossier of reports from 20 striking workers who claimed their working hours, shifts patterns and job responsibilities have been changed following the industrial action earlier this month, with Mandate general secretary, John Douglas, telling RTÉ he had also written to management in the supermarket over the alleged victimisation of union members.

He told the This Week programme that the meeting of the committee today would see members decide on the next course of action, which could include one-day strikes or an all-out dispute.

“We will be considering what next step we can take,” he said. “It may be a series of further actions or one-day disputes or we may escalate it, but that’s up to the members to decide.”

Some staff have claimed they have been intimidated and victimised since the industrial action on April 2, when 5,000 workers went on strike. The row between Mandate and Dunnes Stores centres on low hours contracts and rates of pay.

Mandate has also called on Minister for State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ged Nash, to become involved by focusing on collective bargaining and anti- victimisation legislation.

“There is a promise by Minister Nash that the victimisation legislation, which is coupled with the collective bargaining legislation, will be in before June,” Mr Douglas said.

“But there is also legislation required that gives workers the right to have contracts which reflect actually what they actually do — and that’s what’s needed and there is a possibility for this Government to do that.”

Under current contracts some workers at Dunnes Stores may have just 15 hours work guaranteed a week, but cannot take up other employment due to the level of flexibility required to meet certain shift patterns.

The disputes committee is made up of shop stewards from Dunnes branches.

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