Trade unions in the retail sector are demanding a new deal for employees to tackle low pay and insecure work and to help rebuild the sector after the pandemic.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions Retail Sector Group has set out a series of measures that will be needed to deal with “the serious issues around low pay, working conditions and poor job quality that were exposed by the health emergency”.

Its New Deal for Retail ands Distribution Workers calls for the establishment of a retail stakeholder group composed of trade unions, retail employers and key government departments that would be tasked with devising a new blueprint for the sector to help it recover after the pandemic.

The group, which includes Mandate, SIPTU, Unite, USDAW and the GMB, wants a collaborative approach that will rebuild the sector, ensure fair competition between online trading and the traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ high street model and future-proof it by, among other measures, progressive changes to employment standards.

Mandate general secretary Gerry Light said: “The pandemic exposed how essential service workers in retail and distribution are among the lowest paid and least well protected. This must change, and this demand  for change is supported by the workers, by a range of expert bodies and commentators and by political leaders. The time for promises is past. Now is the time to act and to deliver a New Deal for workers in the sector.”

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Michelle Quinn of SIPTU added: “We now have an opportunity to break with the failed model of the past and build a sector that delivers quality jobs and growth. We need to address challenges like online trading, automation and the range of new skills the future workplace will require. 

“To do this successfully we need the voice, knowledge and commitment of workers to help shape and inform a new blueprint for this vital sector of our economy.”

The campaign document states that workers in the sector can “no longer afford the price of the low pay and insecure work” and that a new deal must embrace decent work standards as a key priority, including improved pay and conditions, trade union representation and collective bargaining, along with access to training and upskilling.

The group is calling on all political parties to support the new deal it suggests, and is looking for immediate engagement on these key issues with junior minister Damien English, who has responsibility for the retail sector.