Clerys department store in Dublin remains closed as strike enters sixth week.
Workers at Clerys have been on strike for the past six weeks resulting in the shop closure. Workers who were not on strike were laid off.
Clerys has been part of Dublin for many decades.
The dispute began over trade union membership and recognition when members of the Irish Union of Distributed Workers and Clerks, who used to represent Clerys staff, joined the ITGWU. Management at the store refused to recognise the ITGWU. The Irish Union of Distributed Workers and Clerks claim that the ITGWU have poached their members and is seeking to have them expelled from the Congress of Trade Unions. Pat Quigley, shop steward, says that these claims are untrue and it was the staff who approached the ITGWU.
Workers are also demanding improvements in pay, holidays, maternity and paternity leave. This is the first time since 1974 that the store has been closed as a result of a strike.
People on O'Connell Street have mixed views on the strike and on the future of the Clerys store.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 3 August 1983. The reporter is Michelle McCaughren.
