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Last Friday (28/06/2013) at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), Mandate Trade Union tabled a bid for a pay increase on behalf of all workers in Boots Ireland. Mandate is seeking:

Despite rejecting the bid outright, Boots has so far not agreed to attend the Labour Court through a joint referral and this is a massive concern for all Mandate members in Boots according to Mandate Divisional Organiser Brendan O’Hanlon.

He said, “Mandate and Boots have a long-standing agreement which dictates that disputes such as this should be resolved through a joint referral to the Labour Court. “We believe the company should live up to its obligations and we have obliged them by giving Boots two weeks to consider their position."

Boots management last week decided to pay a select number of staff a 2 percent pay increase but have denied all long serving staff members any pay increase. They have also refused to pay an agreed productivity bonus to these workers. Mr O’Hanlon said, “Many Boots workers feel the company has mislead them into believing they were getting a productivity bonus if they achieved agreed targets. Now the company have reneged on that agreement and we feel this is a huge breach of trust.“Mandate Trade Union is determined to pursue, through whatever means possible, fair and equitable treatment for all staff regarding pay increases and bonuses,” he said. Workers will have the opportunity to voice their anger through both an online and in-store petition which will be launched later this week.