A one-day strike by 9,500 Tesco employees due to affect all the company’s 76 Irish stores will go ahead tomorrow and next Thursday.
Following the collapse of Labour Court talks on the pay dispute at 2 a.m. this morning the company has been forced to close of all the company's outlets tomorrow.
A SIPTU spokesperson said the Labour Court, acting in an unusual concilliation role, said the parties were too far apart to reach agreement.
Tesco says it made a formal offer including pay rises of up to 17 per cent on top of the 7.5 per cent PPF increases already paid. A SIPTU spokesperson said the union’s demands include improved basic pay, an elimination of the under-18 pay rate, increased shift pay for unsocial hours andimprovement of pension and profit share.
Tesco says it has made a formal offer to SIPTU and Mandate, who between them represent 9,500 Tesco employees. The company also said staff have been given no opportunity by unions to ballot on the offer.
SIPTU has said it will ballot members on the offer next Thursday and will recommend rejection but the strike tomorrow will go ahead.