The strike on Holy Thursday by 6,000 Dunnes Stores workers is extremely important for Irish workers. The stakes are so high that Dunnes Stores management have been trying to intimidate staff for the past few weeks to try and break the strike. They have been calling individual workers into ‘communications meetings’ threatening some with a cut in hours if they go on strike, promising others full-time contract if they don’t.
This strike centres on Dunne’s use of low-hour contracts. Thousands of its staff are guaranteed only 15 hours a week. They might get 30 hours one week, 15 the next. The 15 hours might be spread over two days, or five days. It means the majority of Dunnes workers have no guarantee of a decent weekly wage. It means they can’t get loans, mortgages. If they have only a guarantee of 15 hours, they can’t get social welfare or family income supplement as you have to work a minimum of 19 hours per week to be entitled to these. It means that many Dunnes workers cannot guarantee they can feed themselves or their families each week.
Dunnes Stores has a particularly nasty management and is determined to ignore demands of the union Mandate or to go to the labour court.
This dispute has been a long time coming and the 6,000 workers staging this stoppage on Thursday are bravely facing down threat and intimidation from their bosses.
Pickets will be placed at all 109 Dunnes Stores branches on Thursday. The workers must be supported. We ALL need them to win this.
Over 100,000 workers across Ireland are on zero-hour or low-hour contracts like those used to cow and intimidate Dunnes workers. The Fine Gael-Labour Government allow companies like Dunnes to use these contracts. These contracts must be thrown out of Irish workplaces and this Government must be thrown out of office.
Decency for Dunnes Stores Workers! Decency for all Irish Workers!
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