Mandate Welcomes Tesco Staff Bonus Payment and Calls On All Profitable Retailers To Reward Retail Staff

Today John Douglas, Mandate General Secretary, broadly welcomed the announcement by Tesco Ireland that they intend to give a 10% bonus to staff across their store and distribution networks in recognition of the remarkable job that front line retail are doing in these unprecedented times. Mr Douglas said, “This Covid-19 crisis has made one thing abundantly clear to everyone across all our communities in relation to the essential public service carried out by all front line retail workers in ensuring much needed essential supplies for us all. The selfless and dedicated work carried out by these workers, the majority of them Mandate members, by keeping stocks replenished on the supermarket shelves and by making sure supermarkets remain open during this crisis deserves to be recognised and rewarded by their employer Tesco. Mandate has been campaigning hard for due recognition to be awarded to retail workers therefore we welcome this bonus payment to staff by Tesco and Mandate clearly sees it as a benchmarking precedent for all other retailers to follow.”

Mandate has been communicating frequently with retailers on ensuring that all HSE Covid-19 health and safety guidelines are being followed by all companies with stores remaining open to the public and on maintaining and improving the income for retail workers at this difficult time. Mr Douglas continued, “Much more needs to be done centrally by the Irish government to protect jobs and businesses and the union movement is lobbying intensely to ensure that commitment is forthcoming sooner rather than later. Initiatives such as this Tesco bonus payment of 10% may not appear overly significant in the bigger scheme of things but it is well-deserved and long overdue recognition for a group of workers in a sector that heretofore has not been given its due respect for the vitally important public service role it performs within our society. We now call on all other retailers to follow Tesco’s example and reward their workforce for stepping up to the plate in these worryingly dangerous times.”