Small firms hit hard as strike starts to cost jobs

A FIRM employing 200 people is among those which have laid off workers as a result of the Dunnes Stores dispute.

Whelan's Frozen Foods, a Dublin based distribution company whose sole employer is Dunnes, Stores, closed on Monday. Its 200 staff are employed around the country.

Neville's Bakery, owned by Dunnes Stores, has shut its Cork operation and its Dublin branch, which employs around 60 people, is operating on "a limited basis".

The Small Firms Association said over 50 companies have begun to lay off staff because of the Dunnes dispute, which began on Monday.

As well as affecting suppliers, the dispute is taking business from traders in centres where Dunnes is the anchor tenant.

The manager of the ILAC centre, in Dublin, Ms Ann Lawlor, said numbers visiting the centre had been down since the beginning of the strike. "Dunnes are a drawing point and the other stores will be affected. However, we do have a lot of other stores to draw people in, such as Roches and A Wear."

A spokeswoman for the St Stephen's Green centre, where Dunnes is also the anchor tenant, said it was "a lot quieter; we are definitely affected by the dispute".

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association yesterday began discussions with Dunnes Stores on an arrangement to assist suppliers affected by the dispute.

Following last year's strike, companies with cash flow problems were assisted by Dunnes, who paid suppliers more "expeditiously" than is normally the case, a spokesman said.

"We are hoping that a similar arrangement will operate on this occasion. However, my gut feeling is that there will be an early end to the dispute and so the downside will not be as severe as it was last year.

The spokesman was not aware of any companies having to close following last year's three week strike, though "many were left in a precarious position".

The two sectors hardest hit by the strike are clothing and foods suppliers. For many small and medium sized companies in these sectors, Dunnes is their sole outlet.

Former senator, Ms Peggy Farrell, managing director of Chixwear, a clothing company in Roscommon which employs around 60 people and is understood to sell solely to Dunnes, would not discuss the effect of the strike on her business. During the previous Dunnes dispute, staff at Chixwear were put on short notice.

A spokesman for RGDATA, representing small and medium sized grocers, said its members who had outlets within centres dominated by a Dunnes outlet would suffer during the dispute. However, medium sized food market outlets, such as Spar, Supervalu and Mace, would pick up extra business.

The chairman of the Progressive Democrats, Senator John Dardis, said "hundreds of Irish businesses are being pushed closer to the wall as the Dunnes strike continues. Dunnes lost a significant proportion of their market share as a result of last year's strike. They will be the ultimate losers from a protracted strike," he said. A long term resolution to Dunnes' problems must now be reached, he added.

The Fianna Fail spokesman on labour affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, called on the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, to introduce legislation to protect shop workers who did not wish to work on Sundays. This was the central issue in this, and previous, Dunnes disputes, he said.

Mr Kitt said if Mr Bruton did not introduce such legislation, he would be introducing a Fianna Fail Bill on the issue, in the forthcoming session of the Oireachtas.