Tesco: Strike postponed ahead of WRC talks
Trade union Mandate has agreed to postpone a planned strike action at Tesco, after the company agreed to sit down with workers at the Workplace Relations Commission
Print12 May 2016
A strike by workers at 70 Tesco outlets across the country has been postponed, ahead of talks between the company and its staff at the Workplace Relations Commission.
The strike had been scheduled to take place next Monday, 16th May. Workers at the grocery chain voted to strike in reponse to pay cuts, along with reductions to overtime and bonuses.
“Earlier this week we formally tabled a generous proposal for compensation for colleagues in scope,” a spokesperson for the company said, adding that the proposed changes to pay and conditions were needed to improve customer service. According to the statement, Tesco stores across the country will be open for business on Monday.
“Tesco is an extremely profitable employer with profits of more than €200m in the Republic of Ireland,” said Gerry Light, Mandate’s assistant secretary general, “and now they’re attacking the very people who built the company to what it is today.
“They’re tearing up contracts of employment, and implementing changes without an agreement. If they can get away with doing this to their longest-serving staff members, who will be next?”
The strike grew out of a dispute against Tesco’s plans to revise the contracts of staff employed before 1996. In a statement following the decision to postpone the strike, Tesco said, “in the spirit of constructive discussions, we will defer our plan to implement the proposed changes on Monday 16th May. Mandate has agreed to suspend their planned industrial action for Monday and our stores will operate as normal on Monday.”
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