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Morris' Strike

JohnC.

Just passed Morris' and there is an official picket outside. What's going on there?

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Sully

No idea, going on at least a week at this stage.

Waynecarr

From News and Star

STAFF at Morris’s DIY are today (Tuesday) entering their sixth day of strike action.

The workers took the decision to picket the store after claiming management attempted to select employees to be laid-off rather than allowing voluntary redundancy.

"Morris’s Builders Providers have opposed a negotiated settlement throughout," said UNITE regional officer Sean Kelly. "They initially refused to attend the Labour Court and then took nearly a month to consider its findings. Subsequent to that they have proceeded to change rosters, alter seniority and exclude particular categories of staff. This is in direct contravention of the Labour Court, which holds a statutory position."

However, Morris’s. in a statement issued to the Waterford News and Star, said the company had accepted all conditions set out in the Labour Court recommendation no. 19590 "to maintain harmony and good staff relations in our company".

Mr Kelly said that the decision to strike was not taken lightly.

"When people vote for strike they are putting their family on the line, they are putting the food on their table on the line and they are saying in this case that enough is enough, they will not go through an unfair selection. The company is dragging the city back to the 70s and 80s.This dispute is about unfair selection. They are not affording redundancy to everyone."

He said the staff had been very under-standing

"For the past 12 months the staff have been working three and two day weeks on short time, working overtime for free and working overtime on flat rate. They were asked by the company to be as flexible as they can, and that they have done." Darren Walsh, who has been in the store for 14 years, said staff are upset and angry at the move. He was taken on as a machinist and after 10 or 11 years was put into the kitchens before being moved to a different section.

"I got my six weeks notice last week.

There’s a simple answer to this and that should be last in first out across the board. It was a total shock. I have a house and a big mortgage to pay, this affects me and my wife, this is a big thing for me. I’m not out here because I want to be, I’m losing pay here. I’ll get redundancy but I’d rather have a job. That money is no good to me sitting at home.

Tony O’Brien, a worker in the store for seven years, said he felt the situation could have been sorted out before strike action was taken.

"It’s hard on everybody, we’re not here because we want to be. I’ve been here for seven years. It was a shock when the news came. It’s terrible, if it had been a case that everyone was offered redundancy then they might have got enough numbers. It could have been sorted out, we are hoping it will be resolved."

Morris’s has a workforce of 85 and has been in the city for 28 years. In a state-ment the company said because of market conditions and the downturn in the economy they were being forced to take action in reducing costs.

"The company’s principal concern all through this is to try and safeguard the 67 jobs that remain after the unfortunate redundancies and any industrial action may result in total closure of this company and add to the growing number of unemployed in Waterford.

"We hope to be in a position to take back most of if not all the staff that are leaving us at this point as soon as the market picks up," the statement read.

It continues, "The redundancy settle-ment was set out quite clearly having been referred by the union to the Labour Court. We have accepted all conditions set out in the Labour Court recommendation.

"We do not accept the union’s position and ask the union to call off the industrial action immediately to limit the damage to the remaining workforce."

beazee

on other boards a week ago (Wed Sep 09, 2009):

pseudonym wrote:

tommo wrote:

I passed Morris's today and the workers are on strike, whoever is
right or wrong I don't care because in strikes both sides put huge spin
on their point of view. John Halligan was walking the picket with the
workers and I thought to myself it's nice for a change to see the Mayor
supporting the ordinary man standing up for himself.

Take a bow John

Why should the Mayor take any side in a strike?

Why should he?

robtri

let me see if I have this right...

Morris's profits are down, a lot....

So company and staff agree to short hours overtime at flat rate ect...

Still company profits are down....

Company wants to stay in business and not have to shut up shop...
so unfortunately the decission made to let a few people go to save jobs for the majority of staff and to save the business themselves.

Staff not happy so they go on Strike!!!!
which will have the effect of the company losing more money and potentially more people will have to loose their jobs???

How the hell does striking make things better here!!!!

beazee

robtri wrote: »

How the hell does striking make things better here!!!!

There will be no longer those who kept their jobs and those who got a letter.
Instead of 18 all of the Morris's staff (85) will be on a dole.
Equal is better.

Hard to understand for myself but I'm not in the unions.
Possibly the reason.

SUNGOD

robtri wrote: »

let me see if I have this right...

Morris's profits are down, a lot....

So company and staff agree to short hours overtime at flat rate ect...

Still company profits are down....

Company wants to stay in business and not have to shut up shop...
so unfortunately the decission made to let a few people go to save jobs for the majority of staff and to save the business themselves.

Staff not happy so they go on Strike!!!!
which will have the effect of the company losing more money and potentially more people will have to loose their jobs???

How the hell does striking make things better here!!!!

the company wants to pick who is made redundant
eg worker (A) is there 10 years he is told he is been left go

worker (B) is there 1 year and he is kept

as far as i know they only want a last in first out policy which if its true seems fair to me

JohnC.

robtri wrote: »

let me see if I have this right...

Morris's profits are down, a lot....

So company and staff agree to short hours overtime at flat rate ect...

Still company profits are down....

Company wants to stay in business and not have to shut up shop...
so unfortunately the decission made to let a few people go to save jobs for the majority of staff and to save the business themselves.

Staff not happy so they go on Strike!!!!
which will have the effect of the company losing more money and potentially more people will have to loose their jobs???

How the hell does striking make things better here!!!!

Sounds like they are not against the job losses, but against the method being used to get rid of people. Certain people being forced out instead of first trying for volintary.

beazee

As far as I'm concerned the most affected are yard workers. And they were issued redundancy letters. And they are on strike.

Why should management allow to make kitchen sellers redundant (kitchens are selling much better than concrete these days) and replace them with brick and concrete specialists?

baronflyguy

SUNGOD wrote: »

the company wants to pick who is made redundant
eg worker (A) is there 10 years he is told he is been left go

worker (B) is there 1 year and he is kept

as far as i know they only want a last in first out policy which if its true seems fair to me

What if Worker B is a better worker than Worker A?
To me it seems fair to keep worker B. Worker B will be more productive and help the company pull through the rough times and hopefully in the future enable the company to start hiring again. Maybe just maybe even hire Worker A again.

I feel sorry for the workers on the picket who dont want to be picketting and but get dragged into it.

Everytime I hear UNION been mentioned i just think of those big wig union guys who sit on the FAS board and allowed money to be wasted.

shapez

From experience recently buying some things from hardware stores. Getting quotes from around the city, Morris DIY was the most expensive, now 12 months ago Morris DIY would have been cheaper than it's competitors in the city. So, a simple reason that profits are down is they haven't exactly dropped their prices.

Mickdots

as regards the mayor on this issue,

last thursday john halligan went to morris's to offer the workers his support. they greatly accepted his support and allowed him to stand on the picket with them. he asked the shop stewards and the union into city hall on friday morning for a meeting between himself and them. what john didnt tell to them was that he was after asking one of the major shareholders in the company noel frisby to the meeting also, mr frisby also thought it was a meeting between himself and the mayor.

both sides at first refused to sit down and talk but finally they did, after 2 hours of talks a deal was done between both sides. on completion of the deal mr frisby rang the other major shareholder of the company mr fitzpatrick from wexford who after been told of the deal that mr frisby agreed to, told mr frisby to tell them to f themselves so the deal was thrown out but i do believe a meeting has taken place this week but have got no news to it. i was told this from someone within the union representing the morris's workers.

as for the mayor getting involved, i say well done and hopefully if ur comapny is in trouble he will do the same for u!!

Typhoon.

Well Done John... he seems to be a real hands on type of guy fair play to him.

I hopr this strike is resolved soon.. morris' has some good stock,its great to have the option of chocie of ehere to go. I find them much cheaper than homebase or woodies. I'd hate for it to close, Waterford needs these stores to stay open. We've had enough closures over the years

jimmyw

Well there is a fellow just over the road from me who is there for about 12 or 13 years and he has cattle, so he could afford to take the redundancy. He says he could not live on THAT money meaning I think UB/UA.What about other people ? :eek: Well I say give the job to someone who would appreciate it, you tight git!! He was supposed to leave in April but he is still there so far.

ex_infantry man

fair play to them for takin a stand against there bully employers!! what companys have to realise there is more to people than just an employee number, profits before people eh!!!

CantGetNoSleep

There's just no jobs boy, where are we supposed to go?

phil16phil

John Halligan was manager of St Josephs soccer club, when I played for them. He,s was brilliant at managing people, totally down to earth and always looked out for the ordinary person. Some things havn,t changed.

That said, striking in the current climate, especially for a builders providers is lunacy.

RxQueen

phil16phil wrote: »

John Halligan was manager of St Josephs soccer club, when I played for them. He,s was brilliant at managing people, totally down to earth and always looked out for the ordinary person. Some things havn,t changed.

That said, striking in the current climate, especially for a builders providers is lunacy.

why?? they're just trying to get the best package they can... fair play to them i say

hardworking mom

I'm not so sure it's as cut 'n dry as all that, I've shopped in Morris's with the past 4 years, & I find that there are a few exceptional staff members (mainly in the shop area) and alot of rude/ignorant/ungrateful staff (mainly in the yard/timber area). I can't blame the management for wanting to keep those staff that keep customers coming through the doors as opposed to those that may be knowledgeable, but are not suitable for dealing with the general public. Those that have been rude/unprofessional deserve nothing better than to be shown the door in my opinion. They will appreciate the next job they get, and those that are kept in employment will help the company to grow, therefore creating more jobs in the correct environment.
Maybe it wasn't handled the best way, but in the long run, 67 jobs are better than none.
And then we might be able to shop in the store without being grunted at, or looked down at when I don't know the difference between different types of skirting boards..... (rant over I promise)

JohnC.

To be fair, there should be proper disciplinary procedures followed if some staff are generally rude or unprofessional. This isn't the way to get rid of them. They should be given the chance to improve and if they fail to improve and continue to be rude, then they can be dismissed.

RxQueen

hardworking mom wrote: »

I'm not so sure it's as cut 'n dry as all that, I've shopped in Morris's with the past 4 years, & I find that there are a few exceptional staff members (mainly in the shop area) and alot of rude/ignorant/ungrateful staff (mainly in the yard/timber area). I can't blame the management for wanting to keep those staff that keep customers coming through the doors as opposed to those that may be knowledgeable, but are not suitable for dealing with the general public. Those that have been rude/unprofessional deserve nothing better than to be shown the door in my opinion. They will appreciate the next job they get, and those that are kept in employment will help the company to grow, therefore creating more jobs in the correct environment.
Maybe it wasn't handled the best way, but in the long run, 67 jobs are better than none.
And then we might be able to shop in the store without being grunted at, or looked down at when I don't know the difference between different types of skirting boards..... (rant over I promise)

Did you ever complain said staff member? cause if you didnt then well what do you expect.

I think people just forget how tiring it is to listening to the same questions day in day out, okay im not granting being rude to customers god no, but if they seem a little offish per say , maybe its because they heard the same question/joke about it 110 times already that day.. Me i work in Retail and it pretty fooking hard, no matter how many people tell me its an easy job, im never rude to anyone, it just not my nature, but i certainly get where they are coming from, some people have more patience than other , some dont... if they never get complained about and taken aside about it , it will continue, so next time instead of saying " god his rude" complain him/her.. simple as

hardworking mom

I also work in retail, and have been at all levels from shop floor, office & management over the past 16 years, and wasn't asking a stupid question, as I have worked for 5 years in a busy, well known diy chain, so my question wasn't as basic as i may have sounded. and yes, i did complain about them, but it is VERY intimidating as a woman when these are men that generally ignore customers. In the long run I usually go to the shop staff for help, which I know is wrong, as they are already busy, because they are good.
Yes we all have bad days, no matter how nice you are, but these guys are great with knowledge, but bad with people, and if their area is taking the biggest downturn (ie timber) then why make the good/hard working staff in the shop suffer just because they aren't there as long????
That's my point.

longshanks

in all fairness this isn't about someones percieved notions of shop assistants being rude. its about management treating their staff in an ignorant manner, leaving people go who should have job security and retaining those who are cheaper to employ.

hardworking mom

Without any grounds for that last comment, I can't see how that's true. I know some of those being kept have been there for a very long time, with no question of their job ability, regardless of how much they cost... they will have a job. I'm sure if the Labour Court thought that they were letting go the top paid employees only, with no other reason, then they would have had something to say about it.
Instead they have been letting go people from poorly performing departments, which makes perfect sense. If you're not eating your bread, you stop buying it. Simple.
Morris's have been around for 25'ish years with no strike before, surely if they weren't fair employers, then we would have seen a strike before now.
I know when I turn up for work, I always give 100%, I'm sure some of the people being let go, will have to question whether they have done the same. .........Just a thought......

robtri

longshanks wrote: »

in all fairness this isn't about someones percieved notions of shop assistants being rude. its about management treating their staff in an ignorant manner, leaving people go who should have job security and retaining those who are cheaper to employ.

I disagree, I think its not ignorant of the staff, its ignorant of the staff to assume they have the right to decide who gets fired....

as ssaid before.... whats the point of firing your kitchen sales staff and replacing them with yard workers??? how the hell does that work....

Jobs need to be looked at individually and a decession taken in whats best for the company longterm and the majority of the staff long term.....

JohnC.

robtri wrote: »

as ssaid before.... whats the point of firing your kitchen sales staff and replacing them with yard workers??? how the hell does that work....

Other retailers move people between departments all the time as needed. Why should this be different? I know someone who used to work at Morris's and he used to move between different departments even without job losses being the cause.

robtri

Kahless wrote: »

Other retailers move people between departments all the time as needed. Why should this be different? I know someone who used to work at Morris's and he used to move between different departments even without job losses being the cause.

True, but I can't see many retailers moving staff from loading vans and trucks to selling kitchen units or power tools......
most retailers I know move people between similar departments, i.e. within sales, so you might be selling power tools one day next day you might be selling garden equipment... its still all sales......

also I would like to add, why should employee A get to keep his job because he is there longer than employee B, especially if employee B is more productive, better at the job than employee A.... thats just wrong IMHO

hardworking mom

True Robtri, thats the wat that it should work, but from what I see, some staff done want to face the fact that their dept isnt performing, therefore they will have to move on. I dont think in this climate anybody's job is a secure one, from the cleaner to the CEO every position in every company will have to be re-evaluated.
For now though, I really don't see how a strike will help this situation. It's stopping what customers might come in the door from doing so, therefore reducing takings, therefore possible resulting in another job loss. Not a well thought out plan me thinks..........

jimbojazz

Have every sympathy for those who are going to lose their jobs.............but the idiot on the picket line in the Scooby Doo mask trying to get cars to honk their horns and running after the cars made a bit of a mockery of the whole thing. In fairness I havent seen him there in the last few days.

TheFlatulator

Is the strike still on as I need to get some supplies from there this Saturday and I want to be able to shop local.

Sully

Strike still on.