Dunnes Stores workers are to lodge a request for a 7.7 per cent pay increase for all staff through the Mandate Trade Union.
Members of Decency For Dunnes Workers say that higher pay is needed as a result of the cost of living crisis and that workers should be rewarded for keeping stores open during COVID-19. Members also want improvements to the staff discount scheme and access to more annual leave.
Patrick Killeen, a member of Mandate Trade Union’s National Dunnes Committee said: “Workers all over the country are struggling right now, yet many employers, like Dunnes Stores, are capable of paying higher wages and improving conditions of employment. We believe this is reasonable given as inflation is currently running at 9 per cent."
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The pay claim was lodged after Mandate published the results of a survey of over 1,600 Dunnes workers. The research found that 87 per cent of workers believe understaffing is a serious issue in their workplace, while 79 per cent added that all staff should have access to the same pay scale.
Dunnes' current pay scale operates by assessing years worked in the company. Staff’s hourly rate of pay goes up each additional year they work for the company alongside their entitlements to annual leave. Workers from the union want this current system abolished in order for all staff to receive the same rate of pay, excluding those who have completed over 10 years’ service.
“There are multiple pay scales in Dunnes Stores where some workers are on higher wages than others for doing the exact same job," Lorraine O’ Brien, Mandate’s National Coordinator, said in a statement.
"We want to harmonise the pay and benefits for all Dunnes workers but we want to ensure pay equality is done in a way that brings the lowest earners up to the top,”
Mandate members receive a higher rate of pay on average than their non-member counterparts. The average rate of pay for a Dunnes worker is €14.49 hourly but union members hold hourly earnings of up to €15.60.
Dunnes employs approximately 10,000 people nationwide and was Ireland’s most profitable grocery retailer in late 2021, holding 23.2 per cent of market shares in last year’s Christmas period.
Tuesday marked the 38th anniversary of strikes coordinated by Dunnes workers who protested against the Irish government’s handling of apartheid in South Africa. Eleven workers refused to handle South African goods in store and spent three years on the picket line before Ireland officially boycotted South Africa over its racial laws.
Mandate intends to lodge the pay claim in the coming weeks and will host a meeting on the 23 August for Dunnes workers interested in learning more about the pay and benefits claim. Participants must register for the meeting before it takes place.
Dublin Live has contacted Dunes Stores for comment.
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