A telecommunications company was severely criticised yesterday after it was accused of sacking two employees because they had joined a union.
The Communications Workers' Union claimed the two Limerick-based employees of Smart Telecom attended work yesterday to find that the locks on their office had been changed overnight. It said the two were told they no longer held positions at the company.
"The union believes that the dismissals without notice this morning were in response to the increasing levels of union membership within the company and are intended as a warning to other staff," the union said.
The company was sharply criticised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Labour Party. Ictu general secretary David Begg claimed the move was an attempt to deny people their fundamental human rights.
"People have a constitutional and a human right to join a union. That right cannot be denied. The actions of Smart Telecom in this instance are arbitrary and high-handed and have no place in a modern democracy," he said.
Labour Party employment spokesman Brendan Howlin said if the union's claim was true, there had been "an outrageous breach of acceptable employment standards".
"Social partnership between employers, the Government and staff is the cornerstone of industrial relations in Ireland, and it is unacceptable that employees are made redundant on this basis without consultation or justification. If these allegations are true, Smart Telecom must immediately reinstate the two employees," Mr Howlin said.
