Tesco Dot.com workers protest against new rosters outside Galway store
Tesco says move will "allow us to offer increased delivery availability for customers at the times we normally experience the greatest demand for slots"
Print24 May 2023
A number of Tesco workers protested outside a Galway city store on Friday afternoon against new incoming regulations set to affect Dot.Com employees.
The retail giant recently announced that all Dot.Com staff across Ireland, ie, pickers and delivery drivers for the chain’s online orders – would have their working hours changed from 6am-1pm to 8am-3pm.
However. Galway Beo has reported some of the affected workers are now concerned about the future. As a result, at 2pm on Friday, 19 May, several Dot.Com workers protested outside Galway Shopping Centre’s Tesco store, along the Headford Road.
Mandate Trade Union supported the workers and has also launched a petition in support of the Dot.Com pickers. Mandate said its petition, which was signed by nearly 12,000 workers was handed to the company on Friday, 12 May, as reported here.
One employee said: “My mortgage was approved on my income which included the premium hours. I recently bought a new car based on this income. And the cost of living is at an all-time high, any financial loss would be detrimental to any family.”
He also noted that the change in hours would affect his ability to pick up his child after school and likewise affect their ability to attend after-school activities.
Another staff member also said the move would cause logistical difficulties, claiming that if staff only started picking the orders at 8am, the first vans would not go out until 9am, and would subsequently get stuck in traffic, which would have a knock-on impact for the rest of the day. They said the move would also not suit parents or workers who wanted to receive their groceries order at 8am before the school run or before they left for work.
However, a spokesperson for Tesco Ireland said that the decision was made after listening “to how best we can serve customer needs”.
“Our online shopping service is a very important part of our business and continues to be very popular with customers,” they said. “Having listened to how best we can serve customer needs, we are amending our Grocery Home Shopping delivery times, now serving 10am-8pm (formerly 8am-10pm). This will allow us to offer increased delivery availability for customers at the times we normally experience the greatest demand for slots.
“With customer delivery slot demand greatest during the hours of 10am-8pm, the picking hours will change to reflect these times to honour our commitment to serving our shoppers with the freshest food picked for them. We are supporting our colleagues through the change,” Tesco’s statement added.
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