Retail staff at the Argos shopping chain are set to stage a one-day strike over pay this Saturday.
The strike could close the company's 31 branches in the Republic unless talks at the National Implementation Body on Wednesday tomorrow can break the deadlock between management and the trade union Mandate.
Mandate, which represents an estimated 35% of the company's 1,200 Irish staff, has voted in favour of strike action in pursuit of a 10% pay claim worth an extra €1 per hour.
National official Linda Tanham said workers at the bottom of the pay scale were earning €9.07 per hour. Up to recently, Argos has paid staff increases above existing national wage agreements. But the company recently decided to revert to paying only the terms of the national wage agreement Towards 2016.
The Labour Court backed the company's decision to pay increases under Towards 2016, but the union says those increases are inadequate - particularly for low paid workers.
Argos has more than 680 stores throughout the UK and Ireland - with sales last year worth £3.8 billion sterling. In its Labour Court submission, Argos argued that its rates of pay were currently competitive within the retail sector.
