Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Tesco gambled that workers would go out on strike but that the public would not support them. They must have been shocked to find that in the stores that were being picketed, the turnover was down by up to 80%. Even in some of the stores that did not have pickets, turnover was down by as much as 30%. They underestimated the ordinary people in this country and the spirit of solidarity.

The Government may be about to take a gamble. I refer to another group of workers who have no option but to fight, the bus workers. The Tesco workers were respected throughout the land. Bus Éireann workers are no less respected. If the Minister takes a gamble on the bus workers not getting public support, like Tesco, the reality will be that they will get support. The Government would underestimate that at its peril.

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