Debenhams shop stewards have written to their union Mandate describing a potential deal with the liquidator to give workers additional redundancy payments as "an insult to members" which should be rejected.
Around 1,000 workers lost their jobs when the chain went into liquidation in April, and since then Mandate and former staff have been campaigning for better redundancy terms.
They are demanding at least four weeks' pay per year of service as per a pre-liquidation collective agreement, rather than the statutory minimum of two weeks per year of service capped at €600 per week.
The cost of this additional claim is estimated at over €10 million - but the liquidator KPMG argues that the company is insolvent and this funding is not available.
Since April, staff and activists have picketed the stores, preventing KPMG from removing stock.
Last Friday, RTÉ revealed that under a potential deal between Mandate and liquidator Kieran Wallace, at least €1 million (over and above monies due for statutory redundancy) would be released for distribution to staff.
In exchange, workers would lift the pickets on the stores and allow stock to be removed and sold off, with a third of the net profits of that sale going to staff.
It is understood that a major retailer is interested in leasing three of the Debenhams premises, and some former Debenhams workers would be offered employment.
However, following further protests over the weekend, the shop stewards described the KPMG offer as "unworthy of a ballot", and failing to meet the target of four weeks' pay per year of service.
"The offer proposed by Mandate falls far short of this and is an insult to the members. A full time worker (37.5 hour contract) with 20 years' service will receive €1923.75. A part time worker (12 hour contract) with 20 years' service will receive €615.60," the letter states.
The shop stewards urge the Mandate General Secretary to reject the "derisory" offer, not to put it out to a ballot of members, and to involve shop stewards "and activists" at all stages of future negotiations.
The authors request that Mandate inform KPMG, the media and the members of this decision - and urge the union to "step up the pressure and stand alongside its members in the fight for a just settlement of four weeks pay per year of service as per previous agreement".
Sources at Mandate said that no final agreement between the union and the liquidator had yet been completed, as there were still "last minute hitches to be ironed out."
They said that until there is a formal document with a complete proposal, it would be premature to proceed to a ballot.
