Paul Murphy challenges Tesco over disciplining worker for Dáil video
Paul Murphy raised concerns about the treatment of Tesco.com workers, alleging unilateral roster changes that cut pay and disrupted family life. He criticised disciplinary action against a Tesco driver who shared a Dáil video and urged that workers not be punished for posts on their personal social media pages.
Allegations over roster changes
Several Tesco.com workers, including drivers and pickers, were said to have had rosters changed unilaterally, with some losing over €4,000 a year and experiencing significant disruption to family life and childcare arrangements.
Disciplinary action over social media
A worker, Patrick Reid, a Tesco driver, received correspondence summoning him to a disciplinary meeting for "inappropriate material on social networking sites" after sharing a Dáil engagement video and criticising his employer on his personal Facebook page. Paul Murphy asked that workers not be disciplined for personal social media posts and be free to criticise their employer online.
Minister's response and dispute mechanisms
The minister said the Tesco matter was not discussed at LEAF and noted individual disputes are rarely covered there. He pointed to existing resolution mechanisms such as the WRC and the Labour Court and encouraged Tesco to sit down with mandate if workers wish mandate to represent them, saying engagement is the minimum that should happen.
Wider labour market context and solutions
The minister placed the issue in the context of widespread recruitment and retention problems amid full employment, saying shortages exist across sectors and skill levels. He warned that simply increasing pay will not always solve shortages and advocated expanding training and using the work permit system to bring in people with needed skills or willingness to work.
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Thank you. Last week I and others raised with you the issue of the treatment of Tesco.com workers, the drivers and the pickers, those who make the online store work, who pick up the produce in the store and who deliver it to people's homes. In particular the fact that these workers are facing and have had imposed on them unilaterally a change of their rosters, which means that some of them are down over €4,000 a year, on top of which massive disruption to their plans in terms of their family life, childcare and so on. Many Tesco workers shared the video of our engagement in the Dáil on their private social media pages. However, as a consequence of that, and as a consequence of other criticism, that one worker, Patrick Reid, who works in Tesco and Nace as a driver, he received correspondence from Tesco summoning him to a disciplinary meeting for inappropriate material on social networking sites. This is his own personal Facebook page which he used to share a video from the Dáil and to criticise the behaviour of his employer and is now facing a disciplinary meeting. At the very least, will you agree that workers should not be disciplined for what they post on their own personal social media pages and that they should be freely entitled to make criticism of their employer online and share videos from the Dáil? Thanks. Thanks very much, Deputy, for your questions. In relation to Tesco workers, pickers and drivers, that matter was not discussed at the LEAF. Individual disputes rarely are discussed at LEAF, but sometimes they are touched on. There are mechanisms for disputes to be resolved, such as the WRC and the Labour Court. Yes, I would encourage Tesco to sit down with mandate, provided the workers want mandate to represent them. I think Tesco, in those circumstances, should sit down with mandate and discuss any issues that have arisen. Whether they can be made to agree or not is an entirely different thing that people will appreciate, but engagement is the least that should happen. In relation to Deputy Amara Koo's question in relation to respite in Dundalka, I am not up to date on that, but I will check it out with Minister Rabbit. The truth is that we are experiencing recruitment and retention problems almost everywhere at the moment in Ireland. In Ireland, it is a feature of full employment. Perhaps one of the unintended consequences of achieving full employment is that there really is not any sector of the economy where we do not have labour shortages now. It is in the public sector, it is in the private sector, it is in the towns and the cities. It is in well-paid jobs, it is in not well-paid jobs, it is in big businesses and small businesses. Just increasing pay or terms and conditions will not necessarily solve the problem. We have many more jobs available than there are people adequately skilled or qualified to fill them. That is why we need to increase the number of people who are trained for particular jobs, and also use our work permit system to bring people in from overseas who either have the skills or who are willing to work in the particular areas concerned. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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