Members of the Mandate trade union have launched a series of public protests accusing Tesco Ireland of refusing to provide an adequate pay increase and of denying workers their right to be represented by their trade union.
Last month, the supermarket chain announced a 3% pay increase for most of its hourly paid workers as part of a €14m investment in pay and benefits.
The company also announced an increase in paid maternity, adoptive and paternity leave.
Mandate has accused Tesco Ireland of refusing to collectively bargain and instead imposing what it described as inadequate pay awards on workers.
“Tesco is a highly profitable company and that’s because of their staff,” said Lorraine O’Brien, Mandate General Secretary.
“The company announced a 3% increase for 2025, which is only half the pay claim of 6% that we lodged a number of months ago,” Ms O’Brien said.
The first Mandate protest took place at Ardkeen in Waterford today and the union said the protests will continue until Tesco agrees to show respect to its workers.
Last month, SIPTU accused Tesco Ireland of walking away from pay talks with the union and instead unilaterally introducing changes to workers’ pay and conditions.
Tesco Ireland has previously said that over the past 12 months, it engaged in agreed independently-mediated discussions with staff representatives and their trade unions to try to agree a new model of engagement that would provide for timely and definitive outcomes where any proposed changes, including pay, would benefit from negotiations.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a shared view through that mediation process, but we continue to remain open to reengaging with the trade unions in the future should they have constructive proposals on how such a model can be achieved,” the company said.