Support the striking Wallis workers

Every effort by workers and MANDATE to force sweatshop owner of Arcadia Group Philip Green meet workers’ demands should be supported.

Every effort by workers and MANDATE to force sweatshop owner of Arcadia Group Philip Green meet workers’ demands should be supported.

Responding to the mounting of pickets by workers of the clothes retailers Wallis today in Grafton Street and Blanchardstown Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said:

“This strike action follows pickets that have been mounted in Limerick for several weeks. It centres around the companies efforts to impose changed conditions and redundancies on the workforce across all branches.

“In doing so they have refused to negotiate with MANDATE around terms of compensation for lost hours arising from restructuring and they have torn up a long standing agreement to pay five weeks salary per year’s service to those they want to make redundant instead offering an amount barely above the statutory minimum.

“This company paid a £92 million dividend to its parent company Arcadia last year.  It is owned by billionaire Philip Green who was exposed by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme in 2010 for his sweatshop factories in Britain where workers slaved in unsafe conditions on half the UK minimum wage.

“The company plan to close the Grafton Street shop this Saturday after which the workers plan to mount pickets on the Jervis Street branch. If any other action is taken by the workers in order to apply pressure on the company I have no doubt it will get widespread support from the working people everywhere.”

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Waterford Crystal Workers on ICTU Demo, 21/02/09

by Kevin McLoughlin

WATERFORD CRYSTAL: Specially hired security individually delivered letters saying that from the following Monday there was no need to report for work, as the world-renowned Waterford Crystal factory would be closed!

Shocked but bitterly angry that the receiver had decided to end production, workers at Waterford Crystal made their way to the Visitors Centre. There, more hired security blocked their way, apparently some claiming to have baseball bats. If they thought such intimidation would crush the workers’ anger, they were sorely mistaken. Hundreds of workers brushed the heavies aside. So began the occupation at the Waterford Crystal on Friday 30 January.