Mandate: Tesco workers to strike on Thursday

Mandate Trade Union has announced that a strike of indefinite duration will take place in more than 70 Tesco Ireland stores from Thursday morning at 7am (May 26), following a breakdown in talks in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) early this morning.

Mandate say the strike is avoidable provided the company either withdraws their threats to force changes to pay and conditions of employment for their workers without agreement or attends the Labour Court for an impartial third party hearing.

Mandate Assistant General Secretary Gerry Light said: 'Tesco management have failed to provide any evidence to justify making changes to workers’ conditions of employment without agreement, and that’s clearly why they haven’t agreed to attend the Labour Court. Mandate and Tesco not only have an agreement to attend the Labour Court in such circumstances, we have a long history of that practice being utilised successfully in the past.

'To say to a group of workers ‘we’re cutting your pay by up to 25 per cent and we don’t have to give you evidence or justify those cuts’ is a shameful way to treat workers who have built the company to what it is over more than twenty years. For us, and our members, the situation is very clear. Tesco are attempting to increase already significant profits at the expense of their longest serving workers.”

'If the company thinks it can get away with this now, who will they target next? We have agreements with Tesco for conditions of employment for all workers at the company and there is a genuine fear that if Tesco feel they can start ripping up agreements for one group of workers, there will undoubtedly be serious implications for all other workers in the future,' said Mr Light.

Earlier this month the elected members of Cavan County Council voiced their support for the 30 or so Cavan Tesco workers prepared to strike in a row over plans by the company to reduce their terms and conditions.

The Anglo-Celt understands that up to 25 long-service staff, many of whom had been with the retailer since its Quinnsworth days, have now accepted terms of redundancy rather than accept pay cuts of between 15-35%.

Sinn Féin’s Eugene Greenan voiced his support for the Tesco staff affected, those leaving as well as those willing to stay on.

Claiming that the offer to accept redundancy was Tesco’s “only offer really”, he described it as a “truly worrying time” whereby companies could change an employee’s terms of employment as has happened.
“I have been accused of being anti-Tesco. I am not, I am pro-Cavan. By their actions, Tesco’s contribution to our local economy has been reduced.”

Fianna Fáil’s Shane P O’Reilly seconded the motion of support, saying calling Tesco’s move to change conditions for staff, some of whom had worked more than two-decades, was “nothing short of disgraceful”.
“It borders on beyond belief. Big is not always beautiful and as their slogan claims 'Every little helps’, I say to them 'every little hurts’. By their actions that company has done nothing to endear itself to the Irish people.”

Support was also given by Clifford Kelly and John Paul Feeley (FF), as well as Paddy McDonald (SF).