Argos strike to go ahead
A one day strike at retail giant Argos is to go ahead on Saturday after talks tonight failed to resolve a dispute between union leaders and management.
Workers had threatened to walk out in a row over wages and the company’s refusal to increase pay by 10%.
Talks were held between both sides today at the National Implementation Body (NIB) which ended without agreement.
Mandate, which represents the Argos staff, said it had hoped to avoid a strike.
Linda Tanham, Mandate’s assistant general secretary, said: “We went and had discussions with the company at the NIB but unfortunately the company weren’t prepared to budge on the problem of their low pay.
“It now looks likely that pickets will be placed at the 31 Argos stores throughout the Republic of Ireland this Saturday,” she said, adding a further day of action may take place before Christmas.
Argos employs 1,200 people in Ireland and Mandate say it represents approximately 50% of the retail staff in the company.
The dispute has been to the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court which recommended payment of Towards 2016 increases worth only 2.5% from November.
In December 2000, Argos and Mandate agreed future wage increases would be subject to annual negotiations and not social partnership.
Argos has more than 680 stores throughout the UK and Ireland and in the last financial year its sales topped £3.8bn (€5.3bn).
Ms Tanham said: “It’s unfortunate that Argos have decided to abandon what was a productive and beneficial process over the past number of years.
“Since the beginning of the annual negotiations process in 2000, Argos has grown significantly both in sales and profits and throughout this time the union and the company haven’t had any disputes.”
