Marks and Spencer Section Managers vote in favour of new proposals

Mandate members in Marks & Spencer voted by a majority of 90 percent in favour of new proposals to realign the Section Manager function at the company.

The new proposals were put forward by the company to reflect the current challenges facing the Irish M&S business.

Jonathan Hogan, Mandate Industrial Officer said, “The company put forward a position whereby declining turnover and the existing ratio of Section Manager grades to Sales Advisor grades were the two main realities facing the Irish business.”

A voluntary option of redundancy will be offered to Section Managers in the first instance. Applications for redundancy will be considered and granted on a first in first out basis and in the event there are no volunteers the union has secured agreement about selection criteria for redundancy.

However, in an effort to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies the union has also secured a voluntary reassignment option to the position of a Sales Advisor grade where €15.31 per hour is being made available, as well as a buyout of 1.5 times the annual loss.

Mr Hogan added, “As always, it is our intention to protect jobs and to protect terms and conditions of employment and we believe together with the members we have achieved the best possible outcome.

“A number of stores were not impacted by the cuts such as Athlone, Blackrock, Clarion Quay, Drogheda, Killarney and Letterkenny. However, in the stores affected, and after successful and intense negotiations between Management and the Mandate National Negotiating Team, the headcount required was reduced to a minimum,” said Mr Hogan.

Mandate also got agreement that there will be no detrimental consequences whatsoever arising for Sales Advisors in all areas as a result of these proposals being accepted.