Former Clerys workers protested outside the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on Kildare Street, Dublin 2, this afternoon (Tuesday, 27th October), to highlight their call for a change in the law to ensure no other workers can lose their jobs in a similar manner. SIPTU activist and former Clerys worker, Susie Gaynor-McGowan, said: “Clerys was bought by a consortium of property speculators, Natrium, on Friday, 12th June. Following the purchase, Natrium immediately moved to liquidate the store’s operating company without discussions with the employees, including over 130 members of SIPTU, and without making plans for the payment of their outstanding wages or redundancy entitlements.”She added: “The cost of our redundancy payments had to be eventually met by the State even though the companies involved in what happened to Clerys will make multi-million euro profits out of the deal. If what happened to the us is lawful then the law needs to change so it can never happen again.”The ICTU General Secretary, Patricia King, joined around 20 SIPTU members, who are former members of staff at the iconic department store, at the protest along with organisers from several unions including SIPTU, Impact and the PESU.SIPTU Organiser, Robert Purfield, said: “The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, has been presented with the legislative changes necessary to ensure that what happened to the Clerys workers never happens again. We are calling upon the Minister to implement these changes to ensure the State and workers are never again left carrying the can for the activities of vulture capitalists.”The workers and their supporters will be protesting outside the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation again next week.
Clerys workers protest outside Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
