Mandate asks public to refrain from abusing Permanent TSB staff over interest rate hike

Mandate claims that the situation for some members of staff has been extremely stressful over the past number of days with some members being spat at while others have been verbally abused sitting at their desks.

Mandate Assistant General Secretary, Gerry Light said, “Any sort of abuse towards Permanent TSB staff is totally unacceptable. We’ve even heard reports of staff members being verbally abused as they sit on their lunch breaks in restaurants.

“Mandate has been running a campaign over the past year called Respect Retail Workers. Part of the campaign is to emphasise that ordinary staff members are not responsible for a lot of issues customers and members of the public have with company policy. This is exactly the sort of situation we are talking about. Ordinary Permanent TSB staff had absolutely no influence on the decision to raise interest rates and the public need to make this connection.”

On Friday, some members of the media encouraged the public to make their complaints known to Permanent TSB by whatever means they could. Mandate Trade Union has no problem with complaints being made as long as they are made in the correct and appropriate manner.

Gerry Light said, “We certainly agree that an interest hike is a very disappointing decision to make in the current economic climate and we would support a reversal of this plan. However, the media has a responsibility to refrain from encouraging the public into inappropriate behaviour towards Permanent TSB staff members. We hope that all media outlets take their positions seriously and encourage complaints to be made through the proper and appropriate channels.