Tesco Ireland has released a statement again calling for Mandate Trade Union to call off its 'reckless' strike action, after 18 out of 24 stores voted this week to not participate in the ongoing strike over contract disputes.
To date, more than half of the stores balloted, for a total of 23, have refused to take part in the picket. A total of 22 stores are now involved in the strike.
In the statement, the retailer said, 'There is an onus now on Mandate to face up to the emphatic decisions by the majority of colleagues. It is incumbent on Mandate after [last night's] strike rejections to revisit its strike plans'.
Safety Concerns
'Mandate’s reckless actions are impacting on other retailers in shopping centres too. Mandate seek to say this is due to where pickets are placed but it is in fact to do with the behaviour of the pickets who are seeking to block access to shopping centres and their car parks.'
The retailer painted over the pedestrian crossing at its superstore in Bray over what it said were safety concerns about picketers on the crossing, although it received criticism from the public and TDs for the action.
The union has been posting updates on strike action on its Facebook page, where it posted a request to Tesco Ireland to allow it to picket at its shops, rather than on the street, on 23 February.
Discussions held with the union on 17 February were 'inconclusive' according to the company, as Tesco Ireland said Mandate wanted to 'unpick' the Labour Court Recommendation, which the company has accepted 'in its totality'.
Labour Court Recommendation
The strike initially resulted from Mandate's claim that Tesco Ireland was trying to push through changes to contracts without agreement for roughly 250 employees who were hired before 1996.
The matter had gone before the Labour Court, resulting in a recommendation released in November 2016. The proposed resolution would see the rate of pay protected (with 90% of affected workers seeing a pay rise, protection of two-thirds of guaranteed overtime, along with other concessions), or the offer of a voluntary redundancy, with an average payout of €105,000.
However, the union said the revamped contract would force some workers to receive pay cuts of 15%. The employees wish to maintain their pre-1996 contracts.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
