Dunnes Stores has defended its decision to dismiss 13 Mandate members in Galway this week. Responding to criticism from the union over the nature and timing of the sackings, just two weeks before Christmas, a company spokesman said staff had been warned after unofficial action earlier this year that any recurrences could lead to dismissal.
The dispute arose when staff refused to train other employees on an electronic pricing system without being paid a training allowance.
Dunnes Stores said it regretted the sackings were necessary but it "cannot conduct its business in an atmosphere where lightning strikes disrupting store trading and customer service prevail".
The Terryland store where the incident took place has a record of bad industrial relations and high staff turnover. The union is to contest the dismissals at the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
In an effort to retain staff, Dunnes Stores nationally has increased its pay rates by around 16 per cent. It is also unifying its "town" and "country" rates into a single scale that runs from £4.70p an hour to £6.80p. The increase follows a pay claim by Mandate for its 8,000 members with the company.