Iceland wages dispute
Deputy Smith alleged Iceland workers were owed wages and that the company had broken the law by refusing payment. Richmond said the issue was live, encouraged WRC engagement, and said he would meet Iceland’s new head; Smith rejected his description of the situation as industrial peace.
Earlier this year, the Iceland supermarket chain was sold in its entirety but continues to trade. Conditions for workers in those stores have seriously deteriorated. The big issue for them is that many of them have not been consistently paid for the hours they worked. Many of them are owed quite a lot of money. Their trade union, the Independent Workers Union of Ireland, reckons that at least €11,000 is owed in wages, which flies in the face of the Payment of Wages Act 1991. It is illegal to withhold workers' wages. These workers, many of whom are women, have been working for a long time in the stores on the minimum wage and depend on a weekly wage to be able to put food on their tables.
As a consequence of this and the refusal of management to engage with the union, there will be a strike in Ballyfermot, Coolock, Tallaght and Northside Shopping Centre on Friday. We are asking members of the public to respect those pickets and to support those workers. This is a grave breach of workers' rights. This, more than anything else recently, illustrates the need for legislation on trade union recognition-----
Comment on this
-----so that when the majority of employees have joined a union, like the Independent Workers Union, they cannot be told "Go to hell, we are not engaging with you". This employer has broken the law by refusing to pay these workers' wages.
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I appreciate the Deputy's work on this matter and thank her for bringing it up. This is a live issue under the concern of the Department. We would first and foremost encourage everyone to engage with the WRC. There are a number of issues going on in the stores, as the Deputy mentioned, in relation to salaries and rent. I am due to meet the new head of Iceland in the coming weeks. To talk more widely about the Deputy's point, we have a strong practice of voluntary trade unionism and engagement here and it has delivered results. We have relative industrial harmony in this country. We have one of the lowest number of strike days in the EU due to employer and employee engagement, which is to be commended. We will continue to engage on this particular issue and I am more than happy to keep the Deputy directly abreast of it as well.
Comment on this
This is not industrial peace.