On Friday the 15th of May, Covalen workers organised under the DATA-CWU union went out on strike. This strike has broken the record as the largest strike of office workers in the Irish tech sector, with another next week likely to be even larger.
Their demands come from legitimate grievances, as the company plans to make almost half of its workforce - 720 workers in total - redundant and has shown utter disregard to them in the wake of this news.
While workers receive scant protections ordinarily, redundancies of this magnitude require certain protections: a month of notice, negotiations with elected employee representatives, and a statutory minimum payment for those employed for at least 2 years.
Covalen management rushed these proceedings, has ignored the employee representatives wherever possible, and has cynically chosen to time these redundancies so many employed for just under 2 years receive nothing.
Rather than take this lying down, the workers are fighting back.
They are showing Barry Dowling, the head of Covalen in Dublin, and all tech workers across the country how the bosses cannot offer poverty wages without resistance.
Covalen Workers Strike Back
"The company plans to make almost half of its workforce - 720 workers in total - redundant and has shown utter disregard to them in the wake of this news." Another day of industrial action is planned for next week on the day of the by-elections 22 May
