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Updated 3.40pm
HUNDREDS HAVE ATTENDED a protest in support of Clerys workers who lost their jobs following the shock closure of the business last Friday.
The lunchtime rally, organised by trade union SIPTU, was held under the department store’s iconic clock on O’Connell Street.
A petition signed by attendants called on the new owners of Clerys to meet with workers.
John Crowe, who worked in the store for 43 years, told TheJournal.ie that staff had not even been allowed to collect their belongings from lockers in the store on the day it closed.
We were treated disgracefully. They wouldn’t treat dogs that badly… I don’t see myself employed again. I’m 62 and I went into Clerys at 16.
In a speech, Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke said that Clerys’ owners “should be hauled before the courts” for their “bully boy tactics”.
SIPTU sector organiser Teresa Hannick told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke that KPMG met with the union’s members this morning.
She described the meeting as “robust and frank”, with “a lot of anger” from some members.
Hannick told Newstalk Breakfast earlier that some of the staff were owed four or five weeks’ wages but it appeared the consortium that bought the business on Friday, Natrium, wouldn’t provide any relief to employees.
They won’t even talk to the workers,” she said. ”We can’t expect or hold up much hope that there will be any enhanced redundancy here.”
However, Hannick said it appeared the government’s insolvency and social insurance funds would pay the money owed to workers. That was limited to two weeks of pay for every year of service, subject to a maximum earnings cap of €600 per week.
A note posted on the Clerys website today said that any unused gift vouchers purchased by customers could not be redeemed now that the store has closed.
If you have made any payment by credit or debit card for a product that has not been delivered, or if a gift voucher was purchased with a credit or debit card, it may be possible to get a refund from your card provider via “chargeback”.
Shock closure
Boston-based Gordon Brothers sold the 150-year-old store to the Natrium consortium, which is made up of Irish investors D2 Private and UK-based Cheyne Capital Management.
The company that operated the store was immediately put into liquidation, but the separate firm under which the property is owned remains in operation – enabling the buyers to exploit the prime site for a profit.
The store lost about €4.3 million over the past three years after being put into receivership in 2012.
The job losses include about 130 people directly employed in the department store and its behind-the-scenes operations, and another 330 who worked for the 50 concession holders trading in the building. Many only learned their jobs were gone through the media.
The concessions holders have said they are owed up to six weeks’ takings, worth as much as €2 million, but the sums went unpaid yesterday when they fell due.
They have also called for the immediate return of €3 million in their stock which has been shut inside the premises since the locks were changed on Friday.
https://vine.co/v/eO3rZeBIZKV
‘Very insensitive’
Taoiseach Enda Kenny this morning said the closure “could have been handled a lot better” considering it was such a symbolic business.
Given that it is such an iconic building in the middle of O’Connell St and workers have in some cases been there for over 40 years, it was in my view very insensitive,” he said.
There has been speculation the building will be developed into a combined retail and hotel complex, with the possibility of offices being opened on the higher floors.
However it has also been suggested the building would be best suited to a mall featuring destination stores to lure in customers.
Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Kenny said government had been told by the liquidators that the majority of workers were made redundant and will be issued with their P45s this week.
He said some payroll staff may be kept on during the liquidation process. Kenny described the actions of the Clerys owners as “grossly insensitive and appalling”.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin called for a review of company law and industrial relations law. Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams called for the government to legislate for collective bargaining.
Kenny said that Minister Ged Nash would prepare a report for government on all of the issues surrounding the closure. He added that the Department of Social Protection would expedite statutory redundancy payments for workers.
- additional reporting by Catherine Healy and Hugh O’Connell
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Ireland.
A great little country to do business in.
What do you think Enda?
Eh?
Eh?
This is what happens when we the people elect two parties of the far right!
Tommy when was the last time you were in Clerys or spent significant amounts there? I haven’t graced it’s doors in 13 years, did a straw poll with some friends and the last time any of them were there as customers 2008!
The blueshirts have always shopped south of the Liffey.
@ Wayne whats that got to do with the treatment by the owners of Clearys to their staff. To me they are skum and should not be allowed to own anything that employs the public, users the lot of them.
Waffler we have been through this I am no FG supporter, and consider Enda one of the worst politicians in the history of the state!
I shop where I need and were stocks what I have, regardless of ots geographic location, or shop type, particularly find of a nice market in North Dublin for house wares.
The staff, know the shop has been on it’s knees for quite some time, the story of the staff member putting €600 euro on an item on Friday is a case in point, I was hearing rumours about the store closure from 10 am on Friday and I have nothing to do with the place
Ditto for Renua retail fans.
Take it you shopped there weekly Waddler, knew most of the staff by their first names?
Waffler, Lucinda Cretin or Eddie Hobbs or their candidates won’t be on my voting list
Lads / Ladies give Waddler a break , the AAA are busy putting together a plan to nationalise Clerys !!
I’m running out of space on the right Wayne. You’d be a perfect fit for the PDs if they were still around.
Je Suis,
You may recall a plan hatched on the night of Sept 28th 2008 to nationalise the debts of a delinquent banking sector.
Now can you remind us how did that work out again?
The Socialist Party opposed this lunacy from the start but it has been implemented and enforced ever since by all the mainstream parties of the right.
Even if the AAA did endorse nationalizing Clery’s (which they don’t), it would have a negligible effect of the economy compared to the utter destruction wrought by the corporate welfare inflicted on us for the past 7 years.
Waffler, you are basing this on what? anyone who does not subscribe to your extreme left views is a right wing nut? Plenty of people in the centre in Ireland in terms of political beliefs and attitudes. Those that can work should, and be given relevant supports and education to make that possible, and those that are unable to provide or survive without assistance receive all the relevant supports the state can provide.
AN Other neither FG or Labour are parties of the extreme right. Get a grip. If you want to know what extreme right wing parties look like then look at the Republicans in the U.S. or further afield.
Yes, Clerys time was up.
I wonder how the new owners will re develop the place.though.?
D2 Private.
http://www.d2private.com/
Core values:
1.TRANSPARANCY ( could do with a spell check)
We are accountable to our investors, our partners and to each other. Our reputation is always on the line.
2.INTEGRITY & HONESTY
This is the fundamental premise on which we do business and acting in a professional and ethical manner.
3.COMMUNICATION
With our investors, partners, and clients and internally within our own business.
4. We’ll shaft anyone, man, woman, child, who gets in the way of our profit margin.
Your miserable little lives mean nothing to us.
Out of our way peasants. There’s profit to be made.
Well they are a Vulture Capitalist outfit. Of course they don’t care. Staff are disposable assets. It literally is all about the bottom line. Don’t know what you expect?
Contact Us
Head Office
20 Harcourt Terrace
Dublin 2
Ireland
Phone: +353 1 6425400
Email:info@d2private.com
59 Grosvenor Street
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W1K 3HZ
Phone: +44 207 870 6670
Email:info@d2private.com
Store is dead and the business is defunct, they bought the company to carve up the assets and sell them off…
Sorry but it’s reached the end of the line and frankly you should have seen it coming.
Why do people expect the new company to pay extra redundancy, when it’s law that only statutory redundancy is the minimum requirement??
Because the unions think so… for reasons.
But again one needs to ask what involvement they had in the running of the company for the last number of years while it was struggling?
I have to agree. The law should be changed to stop a company trading when they haven’t enough to meet their debts and not when they are totally gone. It may be naive of me but if you put a deposit on something or buy a gift card that money should be protected until it’s redeemed.
That may, in practice, kill off more companies than employees it saves from situations like this and cost much more in administration than it’s worth.
Hedgefunds. The parasites of Capitalism.
Hedge funds based in tax havens like Cayman and Guernsey so that they can avoid making any contribution to society and workers that they feed on.
For people like them there was a USSR, The Chinese government and loons like Fidel Castro, Chavez, Kim Jong Un.
What are you dribbling about Juan?
People like Natrium,and their corporate greedy profits, social injustice like that is what give birth to people like the ones i’ve mentioned, there wouldn’t be a Marx if there wouldn’t be social injustice.
Hey Waddler are the AAA not calling for the nationalisation of Clerys !!
That’s how your lot operate isn’t it ?
IrishGravyTrain – Hedgefunds are not to blame for people not want to shop in a Outdated Store in the wrong part of the city. When they can get in a car & bring the family to visit a brilliant out of town center with free parking for the price of a single 1 way fair to the city center on public transport. You may wish for USSR central controlled shopping experience but the majority of Irish people don’t.
You’re still not making sense Juan. The Chinese government operates its own hedge funds for example and is as far removed from Marxism as the U.S. government. Also Kim Jong Un is undoubtedly a loon but Chavez and Castro most certainly were not.
Je suis,
Did you missed the part where the entire right wing establishment of FF, FG and Labour have nationalized a mountain of private banking debt which has broken the nation economically.
That’s how your lot operate isn’t it ?
”The Woolgate building itself did not go into Nama because the majority of its borrowings were put up by overseas banks. Anglo lent €38m to fund the deal and the taxpayer-owned bank may take a hit of up to €4.8m on the sale.” From Indo 3 years ago ?? http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/key-nama-player-hosed-as-390m-deal-blows-up-26828212.html & these REIT’s have huge tax exemptions ??
A pity there is not a middle way,everywhere
Norway and Sweden have got it right.
not just hedge funds Waddler.
Not just developers.
Even rubbish collection companies in Ireland are based in off shore tax havens.
When they sell Irish water” it will no doubt relocate offshore as well.
One law for the poor-no laws for the rich.!
so is it that we the taxpayers yet again step in and bail out this company. seems to be common practice here to run away from from your debts and get Joe public to sort it out.
Liberty Insurance did that when they took over Quinndirect and we’re all paying an extra 2% on insurance policies due to the levy.
Eah, no, we’re paying at extra 2% on insurance premiums because Quinn Direct were massively under reserving for potential losses on the policies they were selling, to the tune of €1.65bn,
It had nothing to do with Liberty. A fundamental role of an insurance company is to prevision funds to cover possible claim, that is what insurance companies are designed for and Quinn wasn’t doing that properly. The government’s Insurance Compensation Fund was a well intentioned scheme to protect people when small scale issues arose, but thanks to the actions of Quinn that resulted in the scheme being massively oversubscribed and thus the 2% leavy was required.
Liberty Insurance rode into town, took over 51% stake in Quinndirect for €1. They didn’t get burdened with any of the debt (€81m) as that’s what the 2% levy covers. They gained control of one of the biggest insurance companies in the state at the time for €1. Then they made 160 or so staff redundant. They came into this country on a win-win, pretty much no risk. Why the preferential treatment
Hence why I boycott Liberty Insurance regardless of what premiums they might quote.
On a side note, Those people holding Sean Quinn up as some sort of hero should reflect on that 2% per annum increase for the next couple of decades, he’s no hero.
The insurance levy doesn’t cover Quinn Insurance’s debt. It covers the massive €1.65bn unfounded liability left behind by Quinn Insurance after years of poor reserving practices. That has absolutely nothing to do with Liberty Insurance.
Half of the commenters on here have private pensions that depend on investments like this. The other half would if they could.
This half doesn’t & shall never agree to one after the treatment of humanity in the last 40 years of Fiedman or Chicago economics lapped up by sycophants of mass murderers like thatcher ,tebbit et al ??
I have policies with Liberty Insurance in other countries besides Ireland.
I have always found them the best value and the best service when needed.
You may think it harsh but just because they were employed by a large department store does not make these people extraordinary, while I feel for them I also feel exactly the same for the tens of thousands that have lost their jobs over the last number of years…….
green monkey, you can be sure that when a td loses his or her seat all outstanding pay and entitlements are paid to the penny and any overpayments not sent back. they managed to figure that one out. but the little guy is at the mercy of the elements, who exactly are the tds meant to be working for. us or themselves.
I’m sorry but that’s life and that’s what can happen in a capitalist economy. What are they giving out about? The fact that they weren’t given notice? Please, that will never run and they have nothing to gain from the protests. They’d be better off going looking for employment….
They want ‘enhanced redundancy’ they’re fighting for more of a pay out than the required 2 weeks per year.
The average in this country is 6 weeks per year, the legal is two… Should we be fighting for the average or the legal?
Legal.. That’s your rights.
I’ve no problem people fighting for rights, but not for averages.
I worked in a small company, got left go with 6 others in 09, got my two weeks for each year, licked my wounds and got a new job 5 weeks later.
It’s called….. Life. Deal with it
Unions are a waste of time in this scenario and are just trying to shift spotlight from themselves.
At best they could legally fight to be paid for their notice period an extra up to 8 weeks.
I love my country are’nt you a wonderful person i love my country I think not.
Kieran Wallace of KPMG, how does this guy sleep at night?
He’s paid to do a job, namely restructuring and liquidation, what’s your problem with him?
Very well i would imagine as do his cold hearted friends in the government.
With money stuffed into his pillow and duvet instead of feathers.
Mick, grow up. Govt didn’t appoint the company as a liquidator. This is a private company. The Govt cannot make everything bad go away. It is absolutely despicable behaviour by both the former and new owners.
if everyone that’s outraged actually shopped there it’d still be open.
I shop in Clerys ….. in fact I bought a bed there just a couple of weeks ago …… staff were always nice to deal with ….. quality was great ……. anytime I needed anything of quality I would try Clerys first …… so people DID shop there …….
you know a shop that size in that location needs more than the odd customer right?
@see my vest …..True …… but my point was that people DID shop there so saying that they didn’t is not true ….. yes, obviously not enough shopped there to cover the overheads but …..
Yeah but if money out is greater than money in there’s nothing to be done. As somebody commented here a day or two ago if an ice cream man goes out of business it’s his own doing. This is the same just on a much bigger scale. it’s a shame for Dublin and I do feel for the staff but that’s the way business works. Stores have to adapt and draw custom. It happened to HMV, Game and many other businesses.
You’d think that st some point Irish unions would move forward from the 1800s.
There’s a problem so what do we do? Hold a rally. Yeah that’ll sort everything.
You were treated unfairly and it’s all terrible how the *insert trite nonsense about corporations* don’t value you as a human. What’ll solve that…. throw some money our way and it’ll be grand.
What part did the union play in the company over the last number of years while it was struggling?
This is not the first ,or will it be the last time workers are caught in this type of situation.Just like zero hour contracts and opposition to minimum wage raises on an annual basis, The whole deck is being stacked against the worker.Kenny will do nothing to alter the slow and seemingly unstoppable rise of employer power over workers.He will definitely not do anything by way of legislation to protect workers in these liquidation scenarios.As always he will stutter and waffle his way through the replies to question he will be asked about this situation. It requires legislation not empty promises.More proof that when the chips are down he is for protecting business at the expense of the worker.How he sleeps at night I do not know.Broken promises and lies…that is the true legacy of this mans tenure…..As for labour…what a fkn joke….
@ alan ball you are so spot on on every level. we may be prepared for more of this sort of thing. many employers are watching the dunnes/clearys etc saga play out.
I truly wish I was wrong…It makes me angry,It being so wrong on so many levels to treat people so.
There are a few separate issues here:-
1. The brutal manner of the imposition of redundancy in total disregard of consultation and fair procedures.
2. the obvious attempt to circumvent the TOPE regulations an to kill off the accrued employment rights of the employees.
3. The opportunism of the acquisition and the preference of capital opportunity over the legitimate interests of labour.
4. The lack of social solidarity with the plight of the employees.
5. The dismal alternative employment prospects of the older employees.
6. The legal but immoral use of corporate structures so as to limit/restrict the redundancy benefits to the statutory limits of 2 weeks per year of employment, capped at €600 gross per week.
It is important to note that just because something may be contrived to make it technically legal does not make it moral, proper or decent.
The entitlements of the employees are being diluted and reduced for the exploitative profit of a few.
The Clerys employees have been unfairly, immorally and unjustly treated.
Well said Anthony Lang!
Insightful and eloquently put Anthony.
The highlight so far was James Connolys nephew speaking, about clerys historical significance and it’s part in the rising! I didn’t realise looting was a path to independence
it’s getting a bit tiresome that anyone with some sort of slight link to the fellahs from the rising are coming out of the woodwork for everything now. Quite apart from the fact that the rising was cancelled and should not have gone ahead. Also achieved nothing and wasn’t supported at the time.
And as for the sites of ‘historical significance’? We should all march down to Clerys and look at the brick. I mean really study the brick. That brink played a part in the rising you know…
People deserve respect. They should not be treated like this. I’m absolutely sick of hearing about KPMG. I dont care what you say about Capitalism someone needs to kick this company in the arse …… and dont give me Business is Business crap …….. these vulture funds are here because we have a useless Government who wont stand up for its people!
When this store re-opens in whatever guise then the former workers should by rota should stay outside it using a placard with only one word “boycott”. And the public should support the former workers.
What was done with Clerys will no doubt be done elsewhere if no one stands up to the “vultures”.
If it’s running at a loss, it’d probably as most have said, be asset stripped and sold off. Primarily for it’s prime location.
@Michael – You can always help with your wallet…. why not set up a standing order with your bank to contribute a donation every month to the shop? If enough people do that (i.e. more than were willing to shop there) then the store could stay open.
The public didn’t support the workers by shopping there, why do you think they will support a boycott? Everyone giving out about the closure, when was the last time you shopped there? That’s how retail works. If people don’t shop in a shop, it closes down. There are no other scenarios.
Put the treatment of Cleary’s workers, and those who paid deposits for goods on the last day of trading, in context with DOB and Topaz. 10 months after DOB gaining control of Topaz, the revenue decided that they would change the time that tax was paid on fuel oil. The tax was always paid upfront on purchases of fuel oil. 10 months later the revenue change the rules, tax payments on fuel oil are now defered to a later date.
Coincidence or not, it shows where the government’s true interests lie. Legislation will never be changed to suit the needs or the interests of the workers in any situation.
Shame about Clerys but that’s the price we have to pay we pay for the commodification of everything? Money talks and Bullshit walks in our modern keystroke economy? Did someone mention the word Society?
Wallace keeps popping up like a bad penny. How does he do his job properly , with so many irons in the fire? Is he hand picked for his caring personality.?
Clerys was a commercial enterprise. People shop there and it’s run well and it stays open, people don’t shop there and it’s run badly and it will close, as it has.
What would you rather, we go back to bartering goats and seeds for iPads?
Ireland is open for business….vulture fund business.
Why would a concession holder give six weeks credit to operating company? That seems daft! Surely it’s not the norm in retailing sector? One would have thought, since takings are in cash, concessioner would take their slice for costs of floor area, and pass on balance to concession holder within say seven days.
Jeeze I hope their stock isn’t grabbed as well as their takings. With a bit of luck all-risk insurance cover will mitigate concession holders losses, and 50 small businesses can be saved and relocated somewhere close by, saving most of the related 330 jobs.
The remaining 100 or so retail staff losing their jobs should secure alternative employment pretty quickly as Clery’s story aside, the sector in Dublin seems fairly buoyant.
jed Nash and government knew this was going to happen months ago but chose to say nothing as people in the Golden circle are involved. Lord ,they cannot be costing them people money now can they.
How about the Planning Department making it a protected building? That would stop this crowd in their tracks …… we always have options …… lets use them ……
Headline sounds like irish governments acknowledgment of irish people and workers for the last four years we dont exist only statistics
why didn’t they all shop in clearys in the first place…
who is the protest addressed at?
Really sad for these poor people. But that Vine is hilariously unnecessary and random. I love it.
What I’d like to know how much did this new crowd pay for clerys
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