It’s no picnic on the sit-in at Dunnes

January 1985

It is now three months since fifty workers at Dunnes Stores in Wexford took possession of the Norh Main Street premises in protest at management’s refusal to pay a Christmas bonus for 1983.

The dispute is no nearer a conclusion now than the day members of the IDATU took that dramatic action, despite approaches to Dunnes boss, Ben Dunne Jnr., from the Bishop of Ferns, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and Fianna Fáil deputy, Hugh Byrne.

‘Get out of the store, and then we’ll discuss it,’ was Ben Dunne’s original reply, and that has not changed.

But believing the sit-in to be their best bargaining position, the workers have remained in occupation and are determined to continue, though twelve weeks of protest has obviously dampened the enthusiasm with which they set out.

But the fact that they are still there is something of a miracle of determination in itself. The workers are mostly women, some with young children, and many living outside the immediate Wexford town area. A large number are schoolgirls who take up protest duty at 4 o’clock every evening, when classes end. One girl will be sitting her Leaving Cert later this year.

‘Everyone does twenty-eight hours per week, and that includes sleeping here one night,’ said Frances Cleary, a part-time worker currently taking a commercial course.

For part-time workers, who constitute more than half of the protestors, the weekly strike pay of £21 goes a long way towards compensating them for the money they would normally earn.

Frances Cleary was earning £30 every week before the sit-in started, but she only received £14 or £15 out of this after deductions. ‘So I’m now coming out better, although I would have got the tax back,’ she said.

The full-time workers are finding it more difficult. Full-time workers in Dunnes are on the same rates as other shops in the town, with the top rate being around £120 per week after six years of service.

Making ends meet is now becoming a problem, particularly for a few women whose husbands are unemployed. ‘If it doesn’t end soon, I’m going to have to put the children out to grass,’ one woman joked.

Two younger women are due to be married this year, one in March and one in July. Others have already entered into mortgages and other financial commitments.

‘The £21 keeps you in fags for a week and might get you a drink at the weekend,’ said IDATU shop steward, Patricia Roche.

‘But it was worse at Christmas. None of us bought presents for anyone. We just couldn’t afford it.’

The sit-in has now become a routine for those involved. ‘It’s just like coming into work,’ Patricia said.

However, the failure of shoppers in Wexford to support them is a source of grave annoyance. Said Patricia: ‘You hear people saying it’s a shame those little girls are out of work, but they’re keeping us out of work by going up to Dunnes in Enniscorthy to shop instead.’

‘I suppose you can’t really blame them,’ another protestor said. ‘The stuff is cheaper in Dunnes up there than it is in other shops down here. I’d probably go up there to shop myself too, if it was the other way round.’