Sacked for wearing a union pin

Issued : Monday 16 January, 2006

Does your union have a pin or badge with the union logo? Many unions do. In fact there are so many pins, with such a long and colorful history, that collecting them has become a hobby for some people.

Those pins were designed to be worn by union members at the workplace, to show co-workers (and employers) that one is proud to be a member of a union.

In many unionized workplaces, employers have no problem with this.

But in Dunnes Stores -- a retail chain that has been called the "Wal-Mart of Ireland" -- wearing your union pin can get you sacked.

Joanne Delaney is a 22-year-old shop steward, a member of the Mandate trade union, and two months ago Dunnes fired her for wearing her union pin on her uniform. And despite pressure from her union, they are refusing to take her back.

In a sense, this is not surprising coming from a company that was the subject of a three-year long campaign in the 1980s against Apartheid. Dunnes is a company which is notorious for its anti-union policies.

In fact, Dunnes so dislikes unions that it refused to meet with Joanne when she was accompanied by a union official.

If this story makes you mad, and it should, there are two things you can do right now:

1. Click here to send a clear message to Dunnes Stores:

2. Tell your friends about this and send them the link to this page