Industrial action at Crowley’s Pharmacy in Mahon, Co. Cork
Workers in Crowley’s Pharmacy in Mahon, Co. Cork, conducted a one-day work stoppage on Wednesday, (21st August), to protest at unilateral changes to their terms of employment, illegal deductions from their wages and a management refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue with their union representatives.
The action follows protests by workers in a number of pharmacies run by Uniphar Retail Services (URS) throughout the country in recent months.
SIPTU has served notice of industrial action on five of the 60 pharmacies managed by URS. As well as Crowley’s the pharmacies affected include Byrne’s (North Circular Road, Dublin), Blake’s (Celbridge, Co. Kildare), O’Rourke’s (Monasterevin, Co. Kildare) and O’Sullivan’s (Bantry, Co. Cork). However, despite a refusal to recognise SIPTU for the purpose of collective bargaining, management at Byrne's and O'Sullivan's have agreed to attend proximity talks and the action at these locations has been temporarily postponed.
SIPTU Organiser, Graham Macken, said: “URS management and its representative from the employers group IBEC have acknowledged that the company’s deductions from the workers wages are illegal under the terms of the Payment of Wages Act."
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