TK Maxx management in Arklow must accept Labour Court Recommendation

Labour Party Chairperson and candidate for Wicklow, Jack O’Connor has called on management in TK Maxx in Arklow, to accept a Labour Court recommendation to engage with Mandate Trade Union in order to avoid strike action.

Mr O’Connor said:

“The workers’ strike action relates to a claim for increased pay and improved conditions by Mandate Trade Union on behalf of its members employed by TK Maxx in Arklow. The Labour Court issued a recommendation stating that the company should engage with their workers’ designated representatives, Mandate Trade Union, but to date the company has refused to negotiate. This has left the workers with no alternative other than to take industrial action.

“This situation clearly highlights the need for action so that workers’ right to collectively bargain is respected. Collective bargaining is recognised as a fundamental right enshrined in Article 28 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which was at the core of the Lisbon Treaty which the people of Ireland voted to support in 2009.

“To date, there has been a refusal to transpose this important article into Irish domestic law. In the face of this establishment intransigence it is essential that a constitutional referendum is held so that the right of workers to collectively bargain with their employer is legally safeguarded in Ireland as it is most other European states.”