Shaws employees vote for strike action over cost-saving measures

EMPLOYEES WORKING at Shaws department stores, which operate 16 outlets around the country, have voted for strike action.

The move follows the planned introduction of cost-saving measures by the company, which, trade union Mandate claims, weren’t agreed to by staff.

The union claimed that Shaws is still profitable and accused the company of using the recession as a means to reduce the living standards of its workers while pursuing “unattainable levels” of profit.

Approximately 87 per cent of staff at the retailer voted in favour of the action. The company, which was founded in 1864, employs more than 1,000 people in Ireland.

In a statement, Shaws denied it had attempted to introduce any measures without prior consultations with staff and called Mandate’s decision to ballot employees for strike action as “extremely regrettable and difficult to understand”.

Shaws said it had been working to cut costs at all levels of the business and this included measures such as the introduction of a salary freeze and redundancy programme for management together with an overtime ban, a change in working hours and the loss of 40 mainly part-time jobs.

It insisted it had given a commitment in writing not to proceed with any changes pending the holding of a conciliation conference under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission.

* Tesco workers in Cork will transfer to a new store today under existing terms and conditions, following talks at the LRC yesterday. Strike action at the Douglas store was suspended yesterday and workers will take up their positions in the new store this morning with no change to their current employment terms and conditions.