A shop steward sacked after fighting against cuts in workers’ sick pay has won a financial settlement against furniture giant IKEA.
Richie Venton was fired this year from the company’s Glasgow store after bosses claimed he “breached confidentiality” by warning staff of new sick pay rules before management announced them.
IKEA has now awarded Richie a payout, rather than face an employment tribunal.
After his firing, the Reinstate Richie Venton Campaign won nationwide support from workers, customers and politicians.
Although it failed to get him his job back, a spokesman for the campaign said the settlement was a victory.
He said: “IKEA wanted to sack Richie silently, behind the backs of his workforce, without any damage to their glossy, happy-clappy reputation.
“The submission of a powerful legal case, combined with the sledgehammer impact of the public solidarity campaign, drove IKEA into retreat.”
Richie worked for the company for 12 years and was a union rep for USDAW at IKEA’s store at Braehead.
He had opposed a new system which meant staff absent more than twice in the previous year would go straight on to statutory sick pay of £95 a week.
Staff feared they would feel pressured to go back to work if they contracted coronavirus or had
symptoms, putting colleagues and customers in danger of infection.
Colleagues claimed Venton had been victimised for standing up for staff after he organised opposition to the changes.
A Joint Statement was signed by more than
300 trade unionists demanding he get his job back and demonstrations were held outside IKEA stores.
A petition gathered almost 10,000 signatures and an early day motion in support of Richie was signed by 51 MPs.
After the Record reported the row, IKEA were forced into a U-turn. The company, which made profits of £11.2billion last year, agreed to pay contract hours wages to anyone sick or self-isolating with Covid-19 across the UK and Ireland.
Richie lodged an employment tribunal claim but the company settled and he has withdrawn the legal action.
An IKEA spokesperson said: “Unfortunately we are unable to comment on individual cases, owing to our obligations to co-worker confidentiality and data privacy.”
