Ms Tara Buckley:

The experience of RGDATA in terms of wage negotiations comes from the retail grocery and allied trades joint labour committee. We were part of one as well and our concern is as follows. During those so-called negotiations it was extremely difficult to get the group to understand that there was a big difference between a large multiple operator and a small local shop in terms of economical experience and everything else. These small businesses had a small number of staff so when everything started going pear shaped everyone in the business knew things were really tough. Together they might have decided that instead of somebody losing his or her job that they were all prepared to take a pay cut to try and get through the crisis. There was inflexibility because legally they were not allowed to go below a rate that was quite in excess of the national minimum wage at the time. The staff working in the business would have been happy for all of them to keep their jobs and continue to work with a wage that was above the minimum wage but below the joint labour committee rate. There was also a lot of inflexibility when one tried to negotiate. The view that came from the other side of the room was that if these businesses cannot afford to pay then they should not be in business. The reality is that these small businesses are located in places in Ireland where no other businesses exist. It means that if the people who work in those shops lose their jobs and the shop, hotel or restaurant closes then they will discover there is no other job available. The people who worked in the businesses wanted to keep the businesses open and try to survive the recession. That is where the inflexibility lay and that is where we are coming from. We believe one should listen to all sides of the story when trying to negotiate and decide these rates. One should listen to big and small businesses, especially for things like a minimum or starter wage rates. Small businesses create first jobs for most people. Therefore, small businesses should be listened to and their voices should be heard.