A pay dispute between butchers and management at Superquinn, which led to the closure of the company's flagship branch in Blackrock, Co Dublin, and disruption at 12 other outlets, is set to continue today.
An estimated 103 butchers at Superquinn outlets in Dublin city and county, Bray, Co Wicklow, and Naas, Co Kildare, began strike action yesterday. The dispute centres on a pay claim made by the butchers' union, SIPTU.
Mr Feargal Quinn, the company's executive chairman, said yesterday it greatly regretted the inconvenience caused to customers. "The company remains available for discussions to resolve the dispute."
However, SIPTU's assistant branch secretary, Mr Brendan Carr, said "no meaningful talks" had taken place since the Labour Court recommended negotiations last June.
While Superquinn's 5,300 other employees are not affected by the dispute, a large proportion of staff at the company's Blackrock outlet refused to cross picket-lines yesterday, causing the store to close. A spokeswoman for the company said it hoped to reopen the outlet today. Six Superquinn stores outside of the east coast area are unaffected by the dispute.
The butchers have rejected a lump sum offer of €800, which the company said would be "an advance on any terms that may be agreed in discussions".
Superquinn said it wanted the pay issue to be addressed in the wider context of how its shops would be operated in the future. In particular, it is seeking greater flexibility from butchers and other staff, with whom the company plans to hold talks shortly. But SIPTU believes the butchers are entitled to the pay rise in advance of such talks.
Mr Carr said management was unwilling to negotiate on the specific merits of the case, as demanded by the Labour Court. "Until management drops its preconditions and agrees to talks, the pickets will be kept on and the dispute is going to escalate."
He said Superquinn's butchers, the most highly skilled group in the store, were the only workers excluded from a pay rise granted to staff by a number of retail companies.
