Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 12 October 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Minimum Wage, Cost of Living and Low Pay Commission Report: Engagement with ICTU

Dr. Laura Bambrick:

I can go first on that. To be clear, unions are in the business of keeping people in their jobs; that is our ultimate reason for turning up for work. We do not put forward recommendations that put jobs at risk. The Deputy is correct that a lot of change is coming down the road. This week, we heard that auto-enrolment has had several false starts, there will be sick pay at the start of next year and there is the move to a living wage, but that just means we are moving to a European style of pay compensation where it is not just about the wage that is paid at the end of the week but about the full package, of which the wage is one part. The wage is protected when the worker is sick or retired or when he or she needs family leave. Other countries are able to do this and there is much more predictability in wage demands when it is part of that package.