This morning.
Pickets at Dunnes Stores, Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Exchequer Street, Dublin, and Kilkenny, as part of a national demonstration by Mandate (representing half of Dunnes’ workforce) against zero hours contracts.
From top: Defiant picket at Stephen’s Green; Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald and Dunnes Stores worker Maria Plunkett; Xochitl Wing, who has been working with Dunne Stores for over three years, outside the Exchequer Street branch; and Green Party councillor from Carlow-Kilkenny Malcolm Noonan, left, with two Dunnes Stores workers in Kilkenny.
Meanwhile, in the Dáil…
Paul Murphy for the technical group now also raising Dunnes; says temporary workers were threatened with their jobs if they joined strike
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) April 2, 2015
Joan to Paul Murphy: “Of all the deputies in this house, you know more about bullying and intimidation…” #dail
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) April 2, 2015
Meanwhile…
Pikckets having effect –Dunnes Douglas—Workers Power !!!! pic.twitter.com/PBQJi58vjk
— JimPBPCork (@JimPBPCork) April 2, 2015
Earlier: Always Better Value
Joan could try being constructive for a change
This is the person who leads the “labour” party! She’s in bed with the right wingers and she ain’t getting out.
Joan Burton: See. You. Next. Tuesday.
Where are you meeting her? Any chance I could join ye?
That’s misogynist.
No, it’s really not. As a feminist, I use the word in question all the time. What’s misogynist is to insist that it’s the *worst word ever*, by comparison to its male equivalents. I’m all for equal opportunity profanities :-)
AS a feminist? Really? What sort of feminism is that and can I be one?
Do you really think the word in question is incompatible with being a feminist??
I probably do to be fair Ms
Hold on which word? Did you mean “flaps”?
I’m with Ms Piggy probably one of my most used words this week tbh.
Joan Burton whose hissy fit over the Jobstown protest had children being arrested in their homes at 7am and taken away. Very shameful vengeful behaviour.
She should have been bigger than all that and accepted it’s politics.
She sure as sh1t shouldn’t be bringing it up in this context. Labour, me hoop.
Children?
One 16 year old, ya old moan.
Nice to see the labour party deflecting attention from zero hours contracts. What do they imagine they stand for?
Slave Labour.
They’re not zero hours. It’s a fifteen hour minimum.
It’s the uncertainty of whether they’re working fifteen or thirty-eight is why they’re striking.
On the other hand…
https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/583591015019327489
Yeah, SF didn’t bother doing anything about child abuse by IRA members either, I don’t think that really would be a good enough reason for Joan to let it slide under the carpet as well.
Any party that holds itself to Sinn Fein’s minimum standard is lacking in ethics and ambition.
Definitely. It was just as jarring to hear the head of labour use Lenin as a joke to mock someone else’s complaints over zero-hour contracts as it was to see that photo of Gerry up there shaking hands in solidarity with people protesting a thing his party defended up North…
Is that why Labour don’t try to ban them down here? because Sinn Fein will block it?
It’s because it saves the government an absolute fortune in social welfare.
That’s the reason. I was curious about the excuse.
History has proved we ought not to expect any less than the utmost good faith from Sinn Féin, so of course they would be consistent with their principles and not at all cynical and populist.
I’d expect better from a 5 yr old. Pathetic really. I for one look forward to seeing her face when the destruction comes
I could never look forward to seeing her face, she’s like a Spitting Image doll of Howard Marks.
You’re doing Howard marks a disservice
Had to look up ‘Howard Marks’.
By jeezus you’re right.
I sh*t you not:
http://www.tafkab.org/pics/terrahawks/zelda.jpg
Every time, this is who I think of.
I vaguely remember being a big Joan fan in opposition and I voted Labour, feeling like an idiot now.
Now whenever I hear or read her words I want to bang my head off something hard, repeatedly.
Obtuse, obfuscating, waffling waste of space and time. Why wait decades to get into power and do as little as HUMANLY POSSIBLE with it?
Labour needs to be completely annihilated, we don’t need 2.5 right wing main parties. Geriatric pack of vampires represent only themselves.
That was literally the best comment I’ve seen on this site, ever, ever-ever-er.
Fair play, you summed up the woman perfectly.
Wonderfully summed up. I’m one of many who feels the same.
Yep. Also used to like her, and felt she’d been hard done by when she wasn’t given Finance when they first came into office. Mind you, I also used to like Pat Rabbitte in opposition. And I once voted for John Gormley, who then formed part of the Worst Coalition Ever. I should probably stop voting, now I think about it.
Anyone got the number for Gerrys PR company ? I’ve some post from this morning that I still haven’t opened yet that he might like to avail of appearing for as a PR stunt.
Genuine query, some interviewees are saying that the contracts in use are minimum 15 hour contracts and they are striking because its not enough to live on and some articles are saying that it is over the use of zero hour contracts. Which is it actually??
Yes.
Zero hour contracts were banned in Ireland after the last Dunne’s strike in 1996. The government of the day put in a fifteen hour floor. According to what I heard on Matt Cooper earlier anyway.
It’s the uncertainty of 15 – 38 hours with only a week’s notice that the current workers are striking over. That and general pay.
Does head on her like a bag a chivels ever deal with a question directly, instead of the playground tactics?
She’s a c***. sorry
You mean sorry c*** surely.
On Saturday morning, I’m going down to Dunnes and buying as many expensive Easter Eggs as I can carry. Pay for them with credit card. Store them for seven days. Return them. Dunnes will have the credit card processing fee, lost sales and lost profit.
I wonder though, are Irish people generally that militant. You need to be when dealing with Madame Heffernan?
That’s brilliant Soundings!
Good idea – damage the entity that provides them with their jobs and livelihoods. Great way to support de workers.
For me, I’ll just shop in Tesco or wherever else isn’t staffed by spoiled children.
Any chance of telling me where the shop staffed by spoiled children is.
So we should… give Dunnes more money and that will bring them around?
It’s all about hitting the Dunne family in their pockets, since shaming them clearly doesn’t work. A days earnings lost won’t collapse the business, and equally it’s not immoral to deprive billionaires of a few extra million to force them to do the right thing.
Shop where you like, pretend you’re apart from this society and it’s values all you like, I consider myself very lucky to be in a job where I’m afforded a modicum of respect – I support anyone with an employer who see’s their employees as people they’re doing favours for rather than one of the most important parts of their business trying to force change.
Look, we still need to buy the groceries. If we buy them from Tesco’s instead of Dunne’s, yes Dunnes will lose revenues, profits and lay off staff. But Tesco’s will need hire more staff and open more stores.
We have competition in this country, and if Dunnes treat their workers deplorably, and those workers have public support, then bye bye Dunnes. There’ll still be the same number of retail jobs, just with Dunnes competitors.
I never shop in dunnes or Tesco, too expensive, Anybody ever heard of lidl & Aldi?
No you’re not – eggcellent idea though
Cracking actually
Would they be able to give you store credit though? Can you even return food like that?
Just might need a little investigation to make sure you don’t get screwed. Good luck though!