Fórsa supports Debenhams workers
by Niall Shanahan
 
Mandate said the company had first transferred assets out of the country to avoid having to make redundancy payments to its staff.
Mandate said the company had first transferred assets out of the country to avoid having to make redundancy payments to its staff.

Fórsa has declared its support for Debenhams workers across Ireland, who are protesting today (Friday) in a nationwide picket of stores. The demonstration takes place between 11am and 3pm as part of their campaign to win redundancy pay for more than 1,000 workers sacked by the company.

 

In a message sent to the Debenhams workers and their union, Mandate, Fórsa president Ann McGee and general secretary Kevin Callinan said the workers had the full backing of Fórsa in their campaign.

 

Kevin said the company had shown callous disregard for its workers, while cynically attempting to avoid its obligations to them. “Debenhams workers have the full backing of Fórsa and I’m calling on our members to show their solidarity today, in person or on social media,” he said.

 

Fórsa president Ann McGee said all trade union members had a responsibility to get behind the Debenhams workers.

 

“They are among many workers who’ve been dealt a very serious blow during the pandemic, but their employer has tried to use it as cover to avoid providing decent redundancy terms for their staff. We must show solidarity and support them,” she said.

 

Debenhams management sent emails to their staff in April to say they would have no job to return to after the pandemic.

 

Mandate said the company had first transferred assets out of the country to avoid having to make redundancy payments to its staff.

 

The Debenhams workers have been protesting outside 11 closed stores for a number of weeks, following a vote for industrial action. On Wednesday they brought their campaign to the recently-reopened store in Belfast.

 

Mandate said a key objective of the industrial action campaign is to prevent the removal of any remaining company assets from the closed stores, and to pressurise Debenhams’ UK parent company to pay a fair, union-negotiated redundancy package to their staff in Ireland.

 

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