Industrial action looks set to continue against Dunnes Stores, after Mandate’s Dunnes Stores National Disputes Committee yesterday voted to ‘escalate’ its campaign in the coming weeks.
The committee recommended a series of measures at yesterday’s meeting, including further industrial action, the hosting of a ‘major public event’ in support of the workers and a legal challenge to recent claims of victimisation against workers.
Mandate trade union’s Gerry Light said yesterday that actions by Dunnes Stores management in the wake of the April 2 strike “ has only made [affected workers] them more determined.”
Elsewhere, Anti-Austerity Alliance TD, Ruth Coppinger has told The Journal that the AAA would consider nationalising Dunnes Stores if the party came to power.
The Dublin-West TD also explained that under a Socialist-led government, trade union laws would be a lot stronger, and she criticised the current government for allowing the type of short-hour contracts that some Dunnes Stores worker are currently on.
“Why are these contracts even legal? Why is it legal to be, just on a day-by-day basis, at the beck and call of an employer?” Coppinger asked.
Last week, the Anti-Austerity Alliance's Joe Higgins described the recent strike action as a "great step forward but may or may not be sufficient to force movement from the company. If it isn’t, it poses the need for further action sooner rather than later. A follow up of two days’ strike action or more would serve as a real demonstration of the workers’ seriousness about winning this campaign.
"Growing solidarity, backed up by financial support for escalated action will, like the successful action in 1995, chip away at the company’s resolve."
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
