A German company, which has turned over 5.6 billion net in 2018, refuses to pay their employees a living wage. Flags have lined the picket fence in Rathcoole since Thursday as workers from Dachser Logistics continue to strike.
Jean O ‘Dowd is one of six regional officers from Unite the union in the Republic of Ireland and she represents just under 3000 members in her constituency. Her members have tried consistently since 2017 to engage with the Dachser but the company has refused. In July 2019the Labour Court gave a very strong recommendation that the company should work with Unite through the WRC and recognize that the employees are entitled to be represented by union of their choice. Dachser has completely ignored this labour court recommendation which Ms O’Dowd said is “very bad form.”
After the announcement of Strike action in September Dachser made a last ditch attempt to engage in negotiations. However, Ms O’ Dowd said that her members were less than satisfied, with what she described as a “ridiculous offer” of 1.5% increase in pay and no recognition of Unite as their union. “These lads are skilled Forklift workers, working constant nights, and earning 12.29 per hour, less than the living wage.” Dascher deals with supplying pharmaceuticals and chemicals, spills that are not always dealt with adequately, horrifying stories have been reported where “chemicals have been spilt in the warehouse and sand was thrown over it while the lads continued to the load the trucks.”
In a statement made to Kidare FM Dascher said that they have given a 12.5% pay increase in the last three years. Ms O’Dowd said “what they have actually done is changed the payment structure. They have taken overtime and shift allowance away and integrated that with the basic pay, taking away any overtime that was there means there is no addition to the member’s pockets at the end of the week.”
Patrick who was on the picket line in Rathcoole on Friday afternoon said that he was glad to be a member of Unite to have some “back up.” Patrick has been an employee at Dascher Logistics for 13 years and said the biggest pay increase he has seen in a year was 0.76%, which at 12.39 an hour would be just 9c.
Ms O’Dowd says they have spoken to the head office in Germany and in the Netherlands, their representatives have said they have put management teams in Ireland are not going to instruct them on how to run the business in Ireland. “The issue really boils down to legislation, in Germany, all of the Dachser employees are unionized and the unions are recognized, they all get pay rises every year and it is in their agreement, great working conditions, paid properly.” The problem in Ireland is that it’s not in our legislation so Dachser are taking the position that ‘if we don’t have to do it, we are not going to do it.’
Jean said the Dachser lads will pull the pickets off in a heartbeat if they go through the WRC give them the recognition and offer a substantial pay increase.
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