Mandate condemns treatment of ex-Debenhams workers on Parnell Street
Friday 23 April 2021Mandate Trade Union has condemned the heavy-handed tactics of Gardai last night on Parnell Street, Dublin where ex-Debenhams workers were forcefully removed from picket line at the request of KPMG, the Debenhams liquidator.
Mandate General Secretary Gerry Light said the incident was entirely unnecessary and preventable.
“This incident should never have happened. The workers had decided to ballot for a potential resolution to this dispute at 4:30pm yesterday and then we see these traumatic videos last night where female retail workers, who were treated abysmally by their employer and left without their agreed redundancy packages, are being manhandled and dragged away from their picket line.”
He added, “We need legislation to prevent this from ever happening again, and we need it now. This government have been dwelling on this long enough. We know what needs to change, and they need to change it, immediately.”
Mandate is calling for the immediate implementation of legislation that will protect workers in redundancy situations, ensuring employees are given greater priority on the creditor listing and redundancy agreements are given the force of law.
