Staff at Superquinn in Naas, Co Kildare, have voted to accept a deal that consists of redeployment to other stores or redundancy.
The 103 employees, some of whom have up to 30 years' service with the retailer, were informed of Superquinn's intention to close the store earlier this month.
Superquinn intends to close the store after the landlord demanded repossession following the expiry of the lease. The store is due to shut on February 4th.
Mandate, which represents employees at the store, had recommended the deal to staff. Its assistant general secretary, Gerry Light, said it had negotiated the best deal possible.
“This isn’t an ideal situation for anyone involved. The workers of Superquinn Naas would much prefer for things to be continuing as they have for the past 30 years. Be that as it may, we had to deal with the situation as we found it and try and get the very best deal for our members as we could under the circumstances. And to be honest, I think we have achieved that aim," he said.
Under the deal, Superquinn has allocated positions at alternative stores for 52 staff.
Employees who avail of the arrangement will be paid a once-off redeployment payment of €1,000 along with a temporary travel payment of €25 per week for an initial period of three months.
Any worker who takes up the redeployment scheme will have a three month period during which they may switch to the offer of voluntary redundancy.
In the event of Superquinn opening a store in Naas in the future, workers who redeploy within the business will have the option to return to Naas on their current terms and conditions.
Those employees who take redundancy are being offered five weeks' pay per year of service.
“In the context of the current economic climate, we believe that this agreement represents a fair deal for our members, which is why we were willing to recommend it to them and why we’re pleased they have accepted it,” said Mr Light.
