Updated 7pm
STAFF ARE CONTINUING to picket outside Wallis stores in Limerick and Dublin – and now the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has granted an all-out picket to Mandate trade union in respect of the dispute.
Congress general secretary David Begg said that all affiliated unions have been advised of the granting of the all-out picket and that all union members are requested to observe the pickets currently in place at the Wallis outlets in Limerick and Dublin.
The Wallis Stores are owned by the profitable Arcadia Group, which also owns Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Evans and Burtons.
This evening, the dispute saw some movement when Wallis management contacted Mandate. The union said in a statement that management sought a meeting between the two parties.
So far, the Arcadia Group has not agreed to attend the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).
Mandate said it is “cautiously welcoming the contact from management and are prepared to meet them in one last genuine effort to resolve the issues in dispute”.
However it said it is aware that “this may not provide a satisfactory resolution for the workers”.
It is to proceed as planned with all pickets.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, a spokesperson from Mandate Trade Union said they welcomed ICTU’s statement and that it means that the union can ballot other members – not just Wallis staff – in support of action there.
Due to the ICTU announcement, Mandate could potentially ballot other Arcadia stores on the issue.
Support
Earlier this week, Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins issued a statement in support of the pickets.
The Arcardia Group plan to close the Grafton Street shop this Saturday.
The industrial action began at the Grafton Street store on Wednesday morning. The workers had balloted for industrial action in support of 17 of their Limerick colleagues who Mandate says have been locked out of employment for more than three weeks.
Wallis workers in the Blanchardstown store also balloted for supportive industrial action.
Arcadia Group made the workers in Limerick compulsorily redundant but reneged on a long standing redundancy agreement with their staff, said the union.
“This is despite Arcadia Multiples Ireland Ltd paying €92million to their UK owners in 2012,” it said, adding that management “are also refusing to compensate workers for loss of earnings following the restructuring of the company”.
Mandate has written to the company informing it of the union’s intention to picket the Grafton Street store, and of the intention to picket the Jervis Street store once the Grafton Street store closes on Saturday. It has also warned that the dispute could escalate to other stores.
The Mandate spokesperson said the pickets have been getting a lot of support from the public.
Commitment
When contacted, Arcadia Group said that it has “now closed the loss-making Wallis store at Cruises Street, Limerick due to lease expiry and are due to close the Wallis store at Grafton Street, Dublin on Saturday 19 October”.
We are working hard with our employees to resolve the industrial action that is happening and our primary concern is about the re-deployment of as many of our staff as possible to other sites within the portfolio.
They said they are committed their Irish stores, which have 1017 employees across 114 outlets, and in the last few months have opened five new external businesses.
As always, we are endeavouring to maintain the most efficient structure in our stores to ensure we can continue to deliver the best service to our customers.
Blanchardstown staff are due to join the picket next week.
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