Tesco faces Irish strike threat over pay cuts

Store staff in more than 70 of Tesco's Irish stores have threatened to go on strike next Monday in a dispute over pay and changed conditions.

The Mandate union said workers in Republic of Ireland were unhappy with pay cuts of between 15% and 35%, together with reductions to overtime and to employees' annual bonus, but said Tesco would be able to prevent the strike if it eased off on the changes or came to the Labour Court to discuss the matter.

Tesco said it would look to find a resolution to the dispute and that its stores and online service will open for business on Monday as usual.

"We remain committed to reaching agreement on this issue and earlier this week we formally tabled a generous proposal for compensation for colleagues in scope," a Tesco spokesperson said in a statement overnight.

Tesco has previously indicated that 70 per cent of staff employed before 1996 had agreed to accept a recent offer of voluntary redundancy.

Gerry Light, Mandate assistant general secretary, said: “Tesco is an extremely profitable employer making more than €200 million in profits in the Republic of Ireland, and now they’re attacking the very people who built the company to what it is today.”

Broker Shore Capital said that sales and market share performance would be affected if reports in the Irish press that up to half of the group's shops in Ireland may be closed on that day.

"We shall watch with interest to see whether this strike goes through and the duration of any industrial action," analyst Clive Black said.

He also noted reports that Tesco and Spain's El Corte Ingles had engaged in a tie-up that may see product exchanged was "another indication of Tesco positioning itself on the front foot and perhaps starting to focus more on product over price and basic store standards".