Thursday 2nd April 2015, Kilkenny
Green Party representative for Carlow-Kilkenny, Cllr Malcolm Noonan, has today expressed his support for the industrial action by Dunnes Stores employees and appealed to the company to address the real hardships faced by its workers. According to the Mandate trade union, which is coordinating the strike, 85% of Dunnes workers say hours "are being used as a control mechanism and as a way of disciplining staff."
Noonan said: "I wish to pledge my full support for the industrial action being taken by Dunnes Stores workers today. I also wish to express my disappointment at the company's cynical employment of online discounts as a means of circumventing the picket lines.
"Most of the workers engaged in today's action are low paid, and no one will be affected by this strike more than they will. I believe that management have forced staff into this position by refusing to engage in good faith and refusing to accede to reasonable, long-standing requests for reform of working conditions.
"More and more people are falling into a trap where work simply doesn't pay. We urgently need to look at issues like the living wage, zero hours contracts, and exploitation of young people by internship schemes. What good is a falling unemployment rate if many people are in a worse position than when they were when claiming social welfare?
"I believe that we have seen a concerted effort by lower levels of management to utilise flexible contracts to enforce discipline and control staff. That is entirely unacceptable. All workers deserve to be employed on fixed contracts, where normal disciplinary procedures apply. It isn't right that a working parent could have their hours slashed by more than half when they have children to provide for.
"I'm calling on Dunnes to engage with employees, as recommended by the Labour Court, and to begin to implement standardised contracts and working hours as its industry competitors already do. Employers should not have the power to decide whether their employees can access social welfare, or whether they are able to take a second job.
"I will not be crossing the Dunnes picket line until this issue is resolved, and I appeal to others to join with me in expressing solidarity for ordinary people who only want to be treated with the respect they deserve."
ENDS