Eason 'has no plans' to close stores despite earlier threat

EASON HAS said it has no plans to close any of its stores despite a threat to unions that it would do so.

In a letter sent at the start of the month to Siptu and Mandate, Eason’s interim head of human resources Bernard Delany warned the company would close three stores, starting on September 1st, with six others under threat of closure from October 1st.

The letter stated that Eason needed 90 redundancies, a 10 per cent reduction in pay across the scale, the freezing of pay scales for employees and the introduction of a revised pay structure for new staff.

In the letter seen by The Irish Times,Mr Delany warned they would take such actions if Siptu did not engage in "meaningful engagement" regarding cost- cutting proposals.

He also warned that all existing collective agreements would end in the absence of co-operation from the unions.

An Eason source said the letter was “out of date” because the unions were going to the Labour Relations Commission next week to try and reach an agreement.