Talks on Tesco dispute and pay at Iarnród Éireann to get underway

Talk will get underway on Wednesday in the Workplace Relations Commission in a bid to resolve a dispute over controversial plans by retailer Tesco to introduce changes to the terms and conditions of longer- serving staff.

The plans by Tesco to move staff recruited prior to 1996 onto a contract put in place for personnel who were hired after that date almost led to a strike earlier this week in 70 stores around the country.

The trade union Mandate said that this would involve changes to workers’ conditions of employment including:

– 15-35 per cent pay cuts.

– reduction of overtime.

– cuts to Sunday and unsociable hours premiums from double pay to time and a half.

– a reduction in the annual bonus.

– changes to rosters.

Tesco said that 70 per cent of staff employed before 1996 had agreed to accept a recent offer of voluntary redundancy.

The company also said it would pay compensation equal to 2.5 times the annual loss of income experienced by moving to the new contract.

Separately, talks will also take place at the Workplace Relations Commission on Wednesday between unions and management at Iarnród Éireann over pay for rail workers and a row over training of new DART drivers.

Rail unions are seeking an end to temporary pay cuts introduced at the company and pay increases of up to 25 per cent.