Ben Dunne defends grocery giant’s stance on unions

The failure of Dunnes Stores to recognise unions has been defended by its former managing director Ben Dunne, who has accused the media and the Mandate union of unfairly targeting the retail group.

Mr Dunne claimed the family-owned retail giant ensured that its employees had “the same, if not better” terms and conditions than its main rivals in the grocery sector, a business he described as “a rat race”.

He also insisted he had seen no evidence that staff who took part in last week’s industrial dispute were being targeted by company management as a result of their involvement.

He said that he was not defending the stance taken by his sister Margaret Heffernan – who has refused to engage with unions or issue any public comment about the ongoing dispute – but he argued that other companies that did not deal with unions were not being vilified in newspapers.

“Michael O’Leary does not recognise unions. Why not pick on him? He’d run them out of town, that’s why,” Mr Dunne said. “If I was a union official, it is not zero-contract hours I would be worried about. If I was a union official I would be far more worried about job losses over the next 10 years. The unions are not looking at the bigger picture.”

Mr Dunne also expressed surprise at reports suggesting that company management had targeted employees taking part in the dispute. He suggested that such stories were being stoked by media organisations. “Just because they say it is happening does not mean it is ,” he said.