SIPTU members employed in Clerys department store have collected over 5,000 signatures from members of the public and politicians for their petition demanding that the new owners of the premises meet with them. The petition, which was only started on Tuesday, 16th June, calls on the new owners, Natriuim, “to immediately meet with worker representatives to discuss the purchase and subsequent application to the Courts to put the company into liquidation and the consequences of these actions on the workers.” SIPTU Organiser, Robert Purfield, said: “The public response to the petition indicates the anger that is out there among the public about the way these workers have been treated. The people involved in Natrium have yet to make any contact with the workers even though they were their last employers. It is unclear whether it is cowardice or shame which is stopping these people from doing the right thing.”He added: “A group of Clerys shop stewards also met with the Minister for Social Protection and Tánaiste, Joan Burton, in Liberty Hall, Dublin, on Wednesday to discuss the situation and the speedy payment of their redundancy entitlements. This meeting was described as constructive and follows a meeting with Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ged Nash.“Following that meeting Minister Nash joined the call for the main figures in Natrium to meet with the workers immediately.”SIPTU also hosted clinics in Liberty Hall, on Wednesday, 17th June, organised by officials from the Department of Social Protection to assist the Clerys workers with their social welfare claims.
Over 5,000 signatures collected for petition demanding Clerys owners meet workers
