DUNNES STORES WORKERS met yesterday to decide on their next course of action in their national dispute, following a strike earlier this month.

Dunnes Stores shop stewards from 100 stores across the Republic of Ireland met yesterday to decide where the Decency for Dunnes Workers campaign will go next – and voted unanimously for a national protest march to Dunnes Stores Head Office in Dublin.

The meeting also endorsed a claim for a 3% pay increase lodged by their union Mandate.

The shop stewards at the meeting said they are reserving their right to take industrial action in the future.

They are also committed to potentially escalating the industrial action beyond a one-day strike.

Showing solidarity

The march will take place on Saturday 6 June, and will be preceded by a series of local protests and actions. The full details of these actions will be announced soon.

Mandate Assistant General Secretary Gerry Light described the protest as an opportunity for the public “to show solidarity with the workers”.

We expect Dunnes workers who are not rostered to work on the day to attend, and they’ll be calling on their friends and family as well as other trade unionists, politicians, community groups and members of the public to attend and show their support.

He added that the workers are demanding that there are no delays in the implementation of collective bargaining legislation.

Light said that the support from the public has been “tremendous”.

He said that it is “about time” Dunnes acknowledged the hard work of its staff “by meaningfully engaging with their workers through their trade union”.

The Dunnes Stores workers who are taking action because they want:

• A demand for the implementation of banded-hour contracts
• Fair pay for workers
• A review of the use of temporary contracts of employment
• The right to union representation for Dunnes’ workers

Read: Dunnes staff will “escalate” their campaign>