Representatives for the Mandate Trade Union are claiming that some workers who took part in last week’s industrial action at Dunnes Stores are now being harassed and victimised by managers.
The union claims a number of staff have been dismissed, and others have had alterations done to their regular shift patterns.
About 6,000 Dunnes staff took part in a mass protest against zero-hour contracts and other unfavorable or questionable working conditions.
Gerry Light of Mandate said “This behaviour by management in Dunnes Stores is deplorable and despicable and must be condemned by everybody.”
“Instead of taking on board all of the support that was clearly evident from the public and elsewhere last week; instead of meaningfully engaging with the unions in an attempt to bring their workplace into line with the practices which are now commonplace with many of their competitors, they’ve gone and done the exact opposite.”
The union highlighted one known case of dismissal that occurred less than 24 hours after the strike. Allegedly, a local manager told a member of staff “the business isn’t there”, despite workers with less service and who hadn’t been on strike remaining in employment.
Examples of reductions to hours and workers being moved around to other departments where they may face unfavorable changes have also been cited.