PBPA CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF CONNOLLY SHOES UNTIL DISPUTE IS RESOLVED AND SACKED WORKERS ARE RE-INSTATED
In a statement today Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profit Alliance (PBPA) pledged his support for striking workers at the Connolly Shoes store in Dun Laoghaire , who are now entering their second week of strike action against the company and condemned as “shameful” the company’s treatment of its employees.
Workers at Connolly shoes in Dun Laoghaire were forced to take strike action after the company refused to comply with a Labour Relation Commission (LRC) ruling and subsequently intensified harassment of its workers and sacked two of them.
The two sacked workers have worked for the company for over 30 years each.
The dispute began when the son of the now deceased, long-time owner of the firm, took over the running of the company and sought to impose drastic cuts in pay and conditions on the workforce, while refusing to consult with them or talk to their trade union, Mandate.
The new owner imposed a 10% pay cut, reduced workers to a three day week, removed parking rights in the shops car-park, and simultaneously sought to increase significantly the employee’s workload.
While the workers accepted the inevitability of cutbacks and changes, they asked for some reasonable consultation on how these could be implemented, which the Company’s owner point blank refused.
The Company has since refused to pay monies owed to the employees as adjudicated by the LRC and in a clearly vengeful manner imposed further changes to conditions and subsequently sacked two of its longest-standing employees.
The Company continues to refuse any discussions with the workers trade union and has recently refused an offer of mediation from the LRC.
Cllr Boyd Barrett will attempt to raise the issue of the Connolly’s Shoes dispute at tonight’s meeting of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council and seek the Council’s support for the striking workers.
He also called for a boycott of all Connolly Shoe stores until the dispute is resolved in a fair way and the sacked workers have been re-instated.
Connolly Shoes also own stores in Bray, Arklow and Camden St in Dublin .
Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett said:
“It really is utterly shameful that the owner of Connolly Shoes could treat staff that have worked for the company for decades in this brutal manner. The workers have been more than reasonable. They accepted that their pay and conditions would be reduced because of the difficult economic climate but simply asked that they and their union be consulted on the extent and manner of these cuts.
Instead of being reasonable the company has taken a brutal, “my way or the highway” attitude, refusing to consult with the workers, their union or the LRC. The owner did not even bother to turn up the LRC hearing and has refused to comply with its rulings and pay monies owed to the workers.
Already changes and cuts that the Company imposed and which the workers reluctantly agreed to, have meant that employees have lost a third or more of their income. Yet even this was not enough for the new owner.
Instead, he has clearly taken revenge on the workers for going to the LRC in the first place by imposing even more drastic and unfair changes in their working conditions. Finally, in act that was clearly designed to provoke this strike, the company owner sacked two workers of more than thirty years service because they refused to sign an ultimatum on further changes to conditions, without consultation.
Like thousands of others brought up in Dun Laoghaire , I had my feet measured for shoes as a child by these very workers. They have provided huge service to the company and the community. They are literally an institution in this town and for them to be treated in this way is outrageous beyond belief.
Under the ownership of the old Mr Connolly and with the same workforce, Connolly shoes went through decades without ever seeing a strike. Now the new owner arrives in and thinks he can just smash up people’s pay and conditions and refuse even to talk to them about it. How anyone thinks they can treat people that way, especially people who have given most of their lives to a company is utterly beyond belief. It really looks very much like a deliberate and cynical attempt to provoke a strike and get rid of long-standing employees.
I will be calling on the Council to show their support for the workers and I would also appeal to the public in Dun Laoghaire and elsewhere to boycott Connolly Shoes until it agrees to treat its workers properly and re-instate the two people who have been sacked.”
For more info/confirmation contact Richard Boyd Barrett 086-7814520