Pay claims seeking a €1 an hour increase for thousands of shop workers have been served on major retailers by the Mandate trade union.
Mandate decided last year not to take part in the current national pay talks, claiming the partnership process had failed to sufficiently address the issue of low pay. Retailers on which it has served claims for the €1 increase include leading names such as Roches Stores, Brown Thomas, Supervalu, Clerys, Debenhams and Boots.
Separate, company-specific claims have also been served on retailers including Penneys, Dunnes Stores, Arnotts, Stylo, Clarks and Benson Shoes.
In total, about 25,000 Mandate members would benefit from the increases. The majority of the workers involved earn between €8 and €11.80 an hour, depending on their level of experience.
The union is also seeking to bring forward the dates on which members receive pay increases.
Mandate says that research carried out last year on its behalf by FGS Consulting showed that, since 1998, the wages of wholesale and retail workers grew by just 34.7 per cent, compared with a national average for other workers of 44.8 per cent.
