GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS DEPLORED BY COUNCIL

SLIGO County Council at its monthly meeting adopted a motion deploring the proposed wage cuts by Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton.

The motion, drafted by the United Left Alliance, which was tabled by Cllr Declan Bree, deplored the Government proposals to introduce legislation to remove legal protections for the poorest paid employees in the retail, catering and construction sectors.

The motion also called on the Government to abandon the measures and called on the Labour Party to vote against any such measures ‘in accordance with the principle of solidarity with the lower paid and the best traditions of Larkin and Connolly.’

“Until 1995, shop workers were paid treble time for working on a Sunday. They received a holiday at Christmas, proper overtime rates and a small annual increment for their length of service. These gains were the result of strong union organisation.” Cllr Bree told the meeting.

“However the employers’ organisation, IBEC, began a roll-back strategy by hiring a large number of part-time workers.  Workers were taken on for less than 18 hours a week to minimise their legal rights.  Numerous large retail outlets also hired workers on contracts of less than 12 weeks to reduce their legal cover.

“These changes occurred at the height of the Celtic Tiger boom and had nothing to do with a desire to create jobs.  A parallel process was also underway in hotels. In some of the largest hotels, union organisation had been quite strong.  But again a high number of casual employees were hired during the boom and union organisation in the hotel industry was effectively broken.  Today, just 4% of hotel staff are unionised.

“This is the background to the most serious attack on workers’ rights that is about to occur here.   Minister Richard Bruton recently announced that he is going to introduce legislation to remove legal protections for the poorest paid employees in the retail, catering and construction sectors.  Should the Labour Party support Minister Bruton and should he succeed, tens of thousands of workers will be seriously impoverished.

“The myth that low wages will create thousands of jobs in the Irish economy, which is being peddled by Minister Bruton and his colleagues in government, must be exposed for the nonsense that it really is. said Cllr Bree.

“Where in the world is there any evidence that low wages and light regulation lead to massive job creation and economic stability? The fact is that the countries with the lowest wages tend also to be the countries with the highest unemployment rates and the worst social conditions.

“The low wage agenda which is being incessantly promoted by many elements in Fine Gael, by IBEC and the Construction Industry Federation, will lead to the impoverishment of tens of thousands of poorly paid workers.

“Low wages do not increase employment. Low wages are specifically imposed to increase private profit. The current demand for low wages is driven by greed, not by some concern for the common good.” said Cllr Bree.

Cllr Bree’s motion read:_

“That Sligo County Council deplores the proposals of Minister Richard Bruton to:
Reduce or abolish extra pay for working unsocial hours on Sunday;
Allow employers to claim ‘inability to pay’;
Reduce overtime rates for workers;
Remove protection for young workers under 18;
Reduce the number of Employment Regulation Orders and end coverage of working conditions such as sick pay;
Allow employers not to keep proper records about which workers were employed at certain hours which would make it easier to evade the law;
And further this Council calls on the Government to abandon these measures and calls on the Labour Party to vote against any such measures in accordance with the principle of solidarity with the lower paid and the best traditions of Larkin and Connolly.”