Mr. Liam Berney:

Congress welcomes the opportunity to appear before the committee this afternoon. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is the largest civil society organisation on the island of Ireland, representing more than 800,000 members in every sector of the economy. We have been invited to comment on the issue of working conditions and skills shortages in the tourism and hospitality sector. The committee has in our view correctly made a link between the shortage of workers in the sector and the prevailing conditions of employment. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, labour force survey for the second quarter of 2021 estimates that just over 180,000 people are employed in accommodation and food services activities. We have provided a link to that data is provided in our statement. The CSO also collects data on workers in the economy who earn the minimum wage. In the fourth quarter of 2019, which is the latest available data, the CSO estimates that just over 182,000 workers were earning on or below the minimum wage. The CSO identified that the majority of these workers were young and female and more than 30% of them were working in the accommodation and food services activities. By this analysis it is fair to characterise the sector as low paid.

My colleagues will outline the experience of workers in various parts of the sector but it would seem obvious to congress that the skills and labour shortages in the sector are as result of poor pay and conditions of employment experienced by so many workers employed in bars, restaurants and hotels.

It is important to recall that the sector was not always low paid. For many years, the hospitality sector was seen as providing decent work and decent conditions of employment. The main reason for this was that legally binding minimum pay and conditions for workers in the sector were determined by the operation of joint labour committees, JLCs. A trade union campaign led to the enactment of the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 and this legislation has provided a degree of certainty for workers around their hours of work. The legislation also banned zero-hour contracts in most circumstances. It might be worthwhile for the committee to explore the impact of this legislation and to ensure that the intent of the Oireachtas has been implemented in the sector. However, there needs to be a revised and renewed effort to improve the pay and other conditions of employment in the tourism and hospitality sector. The most effective means of doing this is through the operation of collective bargaining and a renewed use of the JLC system.

The committee will be aware that the while JLCs for catering and hotels are in place, they have been unable to operate as the employers will not co-operate with the normal functioning of these important structures. A significant flaw in the legislation underpinning the operation of the JLC system allows employers to effectively veto their functioning. It is imperative that this flaw is remedied as soon as practicable.