Mandate calls on B&Q to sort out their workers’ pay

Friday 14 June 2013

Mandate Trade Union is calling on B&Q management to stop the delay in sorting out their workers’ pay claims.

Last year B&Q unilaterally took the decision to abolish the Winter and Summer bonuses and also withdrew the Zone Allowance (41c per hour) which is payable to all staff in Liffey Valley, Swords and Tallaght.

The zone allowance had been in place since 2003 and has become part of the workers’ weekly income and something which many of them rely on. It is the union’s contention that the company has breached the Payment of Wages Act, 1991, and as such, they are taking the case on behalf of all members in the effected stores.

Mandate recently took the first case to the Rights Commissioner and won back payment of the money owed to one of our members, but since then, the company has appealed that case to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) knowing full well that the EAT has a two year waiting list for hearings.

Due to the company’s insistence that each claim will be heard individually, Mandate now has approximately 250 separate claims to be heard by the Rights Commissioner in relation to the alleged breaches of the Payment of Wages Act. The union is calling on B&Q to take the first five cases as test cases for the whole dispute and stop clogging up the Irish states labour relations mechanisms.

Mandate Trade Union Divisional Organiser, Willie Hamilton, said the company appears to be drawing out the conclusion of this dispute in the hope that it will eventually go away.

“It is clear to Mandate that B&Q management are now in a process of attempting to frustrate the natural justice of this issue by insisting that the union processes all claims individually,” he said.

“There is currently a seven month waiting list to be heard by a Rights Commissioner and a two year waiting list for the Employment Appeals Tribunal if the company appeals the probable loss of these cases.

“All in all, a worker at B&Q may have to wait three years to win what is owed to them now and that is a disgrace.

Mr Hamilton also emphasised that the company put these workers through enormous stresses in order to win reductions in their rent.

“The company managed to win millions of Euros in rent reductions through the recent examinership process, something which upset and worried a lot of our members. Now that those savings have been made, the company should reward their loyal workers by resolving this issue as quickly as possible.”

Mr Hamilton concluded by saying that if the company insists on abusing the states labour relations mechanisms and prolonging the pay dispute unnecessarily, then the workers and their union will have to explore other options to speed up the process.

“When you’re confronted with an employer who insists on wasting everyone’s time, including the Labour Relations Commission, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, their workers, the unions and their own, then sometimes the workers are forced to examine alternative options for resolving these disputes,” he said.

“The union will discuss alternatives in the coming weeks with our members and ultimately the next steps will be decided by them,” said Mr Hamilton.

He added, “Mandate will continue to pursue all claims for their members through the Rights Commissioners and the EAT and the next set of cases to be heard will take place on the 1st and 2nd of July,” he concluded.

Mandate will keep all members updated as the cases progress.

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