Negotiations between Mandate Trade Union and Tesco Ireland have broken down, and a number of issues have been referred to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) for a conciliation hearing, the trade union has confirmed.
Tesco management and Mandate's National Negotiations Team met last week, and the Union put a number of items on the agenda for consideration including; an immediate restoration of Share Bonus Payment; a 3 percent pay increase across all grades, and a review of Banded Hour Contracts Framework to ensure maximum benefits to members.
According to Mandate, the main reason for the breakdown in talks was management’s refusal to justify the unilateral decision to stop the share bonus for staff and concede a 3% pay increase for the current year.
Mandate Assistant General Secretary Gerry Light said; “It is extremely disappointing that Tesco has refused to provide detailed information in respect of their profits in the Republic of Ireland. This financial data is necessary in order for us to establish the capacity of the company to fulfil our claim.
"If they can’t pay the share bonus and a modest pay increase, they should show us evidence of that fact. In the absence of this evidence, we have to assume Tesco is capable of fulfilling our claim."
Light added: “We have informed the company that their actions in relation to the share bonus scheme, where they did not inform the Union in advance of their decision, is entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Our members are justifiably angry and upset and that’s why this was the number one item on the agenda."
In response, Tesco Ireland issued the following statement to Retail Intelligence, "We cannot comment on specific discussions with unions. Tesco is a responsible employer and has a collective agreement in place, offers better than industry rates of pay and only last year agreed a 2% pay rise with our unions.
"Tesco is the world’s biggest buyer of Irish food and drink and is responsible for nearly 47,000 Irish jobs; employing 14,500 people directly in 149 stores, head office and depot and supporting a further 32,180 jobs in our supply chain."
Mandate has urged all Tesco members to rally together in order to achieve the full claim put forward by their National Negotiations Committee.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Niall Swan
