Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on this important Solidarity-People Before Profit Private Member's Bill. I commend Deputies on introducing this timely legislation, the purpose of which is to improve the rights of employees in circumstances where their employer is in liquidation and the company is being wound up. It is a short Bill to amend the Companies Act 2014 and will make provision for recognition of redundancy payments that are agreed in relevant collective agreements in a winding-up of a company. The Bill also gives preferential creditor status to employees in a winding-up of a company.

The Bill is informally referred to as the Debenhams Bill in recognition of the outstanding perseverance of Debenhams workers who have been on the picket line for almost 400 days. These workers, mainly women, were blocking the removal of stock from closed premises, asking that their previously negotiated redundancy packages be adhered to.

Most Members will have seen an email sent to us earlier this week from Ms Carol Quinn. Carol told us that she worked in Debenhams in the Square in Tallaght for 30 years. Despite this length of service, she was made redundant in March 2020 via a generic email. Carol said "it was not a very nice experience" and told us that she had been the shop steward at this store for over 15 years. I say "length of service" because it is a service. People working in retail have to deal with customers, management, stock control and many other aspects of working in that sector. When employees are on their feet for long periods and have to show courtesy in the face of sometimes rude customers. It is a multifaceted and multi-skilled role. During the pandemic, retail employees have been front-line staff and should be recognised as such.

The wonderful trade union spirit can be felt in Carol’s email. She stated, "My aim at 62 is for my children and my grandkids to get better working conditions, especially in low-paid retail jobs." That is what trade union membership and industrial action are all about. We are thinking about the future of jobs and the employees coming up the ranks behind us. I hope that Covid has renewed the sense of solidarity and power in unions because we have seen a move towards individualism over many years. People are tending not to join or support unions because their own personal situation is okay or because of the increase in zero-hour contracts, precarious employment and the so-called gig economy. If only our political system could support workers as much as it does those involved in it, it would make some difference.

Yesterday, Deputy Mick Barry and his staff hosted a briefing with some of the Debenhams workers from the Waterford, Cork and Henry Street stores and elected representatives. Michelle had not had much sleep after trying to stop the removal of stock from the Waterford store on Monday night. She told us that about 40 gardaí in six Garda vans were deployed to the store, half of whom were apparently from the public order unit. The Garda has been involved in allowing KPMG to recover stock from Debenhams premises.

It is obvious that there are classist, gendered aspects to this industrial dispute, and a lack of widespread public support. The majority of Debenhams workers are women. Many of them were working there when it was Roches Stores. They have given their working lives to the retail outlet only to be shafted at the last hurdle.

The treatment of the women on the picket lines has been despicable. We have seen images of women in their 50s and 60s and some men in their 70s being roughly handled by gardaí, most severely in the recent protests at the Henry Street branch. Why are gardaí being used to break up the pickets? Surely sending in packers to gather the stock went against level 5 Covid restrictions? I do not see much comment from the Government about that. The Tánaiste is great at shedding crocodile tears in the media about workers' rights but has not explained why the Garda is policing stock during a pandemic.

This is not the first time this issue has been brought to the Dáil. We heard about Vita Cortex, Clerys and Arcadia before Debenhams. The Duffy Cahill report has been gathering dust for about six years now. If its recommendations had been implemented, this situation could have been avoided. I offer my full solidarity to all the Debenhams workers, to Jane, Michelle, Suzanne, Carol, Carol Ann, and all of the others. The Government has let them down, but they have done themselves proud. I am delighted to support this Bill.

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