Attack on Ex-Debenhams Workers and The Ideology Behind It

KPMG Ireland have contacted the Mandate, the union that represented the ex-Debenhams workers, saying that they intend to appeal the two weeks monies awarded by the Workplace Rights Commission (WRC) to the workers who fought a long strike battle.

KPMG originally appealed the four weeks awarded to the workers and the adjudicator disgracefully reduced the 4 weeks to 2 weeks! At the same time the new Taoiseach Simon Harris TD has gone on an ideological attack on workers rights in general.

From January 1st 2024 the WRC put out a statement stating that workers are entitled to just five days sick leave, two days more than the statutory three days of 2023. From the original legislation that Simon Harris voted for the sick pay is too increase up to:

7 days sick leave 2025 January 1st 10 days sick leave 2026 January 1st

This is now about to be paused, along with minimum wage increases which were due!

KPMG and the former employer is going after the shameful, disgustingly small award from the WRC to the Debenhams workers!

The only reason these attacks on rank and file workers can take place is because the bravery of rank and file workers is not matched by union leaders.

One bureaucrats comments to the Debenhams tribute book show this:

“You have no right to write the book, it should only be used for wiping your backside”

This was actually said to the brave, stubborn Debenhams women and their families and friends who spent 406 days on the picket lines literally from the COVID lockdowns to the brutal removal by KPMG and the Guards in spring 2021.

It’s for this we urge people to build grassroots opposition in all our unions both inside and outside of ICTU.

It’s important parties like People Before Profit and others on the Socialist Left in Ireland tier a strategy to build hubs for workers to take on the trade union officials in their union and to have patient diligence to organise and fraternally have the space to build density within their workplace.

We should as workers with the backing of your branch to say to the trade union bureaucrat:

“ICTU sat on it’s backside and allowed Debenhams in Britain & NI to advertise 40% reduction for the assets that would have paid a handsome cheque & redundancy package to all ex-Debenhams workers.

Every public and private sector worker should have been called out to ensure KPMG and the guards couldn’t remove the stock, now KPMG is after the pittance awarded to the workers

We want an angry peaceful assembly outside KPMG HQ in Dublin”

But in order to get workers to have the confidence, we have to outreach to people were they are at.

Can we magic up social movements? No, but we can do the hard work in our workplaces, return to the housing estates as trade union/socialist fighters and try to avoid any Debenhams 2.0, fight Simon Harris’s attacks on workers rights!