Five British MPs have signed a Commons motion condemning Dunnes Stores over its dismissal of a Dublin worker for wearing a union badge.
Joanne Delaney (22), a Mandate shop steward at the company's shop in Crumlin, was sacked in November having earlier been suspended for refusing to remove the badge. Mandate claims a disciplinary meeting was later cancelled when Ms Delaney turned up in the presence of a union official.
An "early-day motion" criticising the company and calling for Ms Delaney's reinstatement has been tabled by Labour MP Sharon Hodgson. Early-day motions are put down in the Commons to call for debates on particular subjects. However, there is rarely time to debate the motions, and they are used to draw attention to an issue.
Ms Hodgson's motion has been signed by Labour Party colleagues Jim McGovern, Martin Caton and Jeremy Corbyn, and by Conservative MP Peter Bottomley.
The motion "notes with alarm" that Dunnes, which also operates in Britain, has refused to meet Ms Delaney because she was accompanied by a union official. It says "this high-handed action by Dunnes contradicts the Irish system of industrial relations, which is based on a social partnership arrangement where each party respects the rights of the other".
A spokeswoman for Dunnes Stores said it had no comment. Mandate says Ms Delaney was suspended on October 18th by a manager at the Ashleaf Centre store for refusing to remove the union badge. It claims the company then denied her the right to be represented by a union official before she was dismissed by letter on November 29th.
Dunnes was told by the Labour Court in November to change its disciplinary procedures to allow staff the right to union representation. Dunnes said it did not negotiate with unions.
