SIPTU has condemned the bullying approach adopted by the management of Tesco in its attempt to force long serving staff members out of their jobs and its failure to attend a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) meeting to discuss the on-going dispute at the supermarket chain. SIPTU Sector Organiser, Teresa Hannick, said: “SIPTU representatives have been inundated with calls from our members in Tesco who are distraught because of the pressure management are putting on them to leave the company. “Tesco told staff employed before 1997 that they would experience pay cuts of up to 35% and have their rosters and hours unilaterally changed on 16th May if they did not accept a management defined redundancy package by yesterday. The deadline for accepting this redundancy package has now been extended in a continued effort to force workers out of their jobs.” SIPTU Organiser, Derek Casserly, said: “In a statement released by Tesco last Friday (15th April), management stated that it would attend a WRC meeting to discuss the dispute at the company. “However, when the WRC issued an invitation last Friday to all sides to attend such a meeting on Monday, 25th April, the unions immediately accepted it only for management to wait until yesterday to state it was unavailable. Tesco has now said that its representatives will not be available to attend a WRC meeting until Monday, 2nd May, at the earliest. “It is obvious to our members that the reason for management delaying the WRC meeting is to provide it with more time to intimidate our members into leaving the company.”
SIPTU condemns Tesco’s bullying approach to long serving staff members
