Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

Yes, another worker joined the first hunger striker this morning. Non-union workers have replaced Irish unionised workers resulting in workers having to resort to going on hunger strike to obtain their rights, a practise likely to increase as time goes on.

It must also be borne in mind that rates of pay in many of the sectors likely to be targeted by employers are already low. According to Mandate, the average starting rate of pay for retail workers is €9.09 per hour, not much above the statutory minimum wage. This only increases to €13.57 per hour after ten years. It should be borne in mind too that these low rates of pay by and large remained static as retailers enjoyed large profits based on the consumer boom between 2001 and 2007, during which time the value of retail sales grew by 43%. This is exploitation of labour by greedy multinationals and others. The same applies to low paid workers in the hotel and catering sector. These workers, who saw no tangible increase in their living standards in the good years, are now expected to suffer wage cuts when times are not so good. Even companies that continue to do well are using the recession to undermine wages and conditions. For example, Boots cut wages despite its having made profits here of €20 million to March 2008. That is the model which other employers wish to follow and which they will be enabled to follow if the inability to pay clause in the Industrial Relations Bill 2009 is accepted. On that basis they will be able to bring in agency workers to work at below the statutory minimum and agreed rates for other sectors. It is necessary that this Bill be amended to safeguard against that possibility. The existing Registered Employment Agreements and Employment Regulation Orders need to be mandatory in respect of employment agencies and agency workers.

There is also a need for a section in the Bill which clarifies by whom an agency worker is actually employed otherwise, the provisions that purport to monitor the area and ensure that agency workers are protected by existing employment legislation and are not abused will be ineffective. An abuse that might arise is the employment of agency workers to replace workers engaged in industrial action. This needs to be explicitly outlawed in the Bill otherwise there will be huge division and anger within the workforce of this country. Another suggested amendment is that agencies place a bond to ensure that money received by an agency on behalf of workers is protected if the agency goes bankrupt.

The opportunity should have been availed of in this Bill to give effect to EU Directive 2008/104/EC which deals with temporary agency workers. The directive provides that agency workers are entitled to the same protections and rights as workers on permanent contracts. This State has sought to derogate from that on the basis that it creates a means of dealing with agency workers in agreement with the social partners. However, the qualification that this needs to be implemented with regard to current economic conditions and the need for a so-called flexible labour supply means that it is potentially open to the same opt-outs proposed in the Industrial Relations Bill. Clearly, employers want to be able to employ agency workers from overseas on lower wages and under weaker protections than those which currently apply to Irish workers.

Employers' spokespersons have made it clear that this is exactly what they want. They have obviously been successful in persuading their friends in Government and in the main Opposition party to support measures to undermine wages and conditions, thus facilitating a race to the bottom which will not only impoverish tens of thousands of Irish workers and their families but Irish society as a whole. The only beneficiaries will be low-paying employers who, having failed to pass on the benefits of the boom years, are now intent on surviving the recession at the expense of their employees.

It is essential that the amendments referred to are included in the Bill to ensure the proper protections are guaranteed for the agency workers themselves and to ensure that existing jobs, wages and conditions of employment are not undermined in their absence. It is also essential that, just as the employers, with the support of some of the parties here, are pursuing a strategy across the board in an attempt to drive down wages and weaken workers rights, those opposed to this here and in the trade unions likewise understand the need to challenge this on all levels, and in particular the attempt to link the undermining of the minimum wage to so-called labour flexibility which in reality means the freedom to recruit workers, including those on agency contracts from other countries, on much lower levels and under conditions that are unacceptable to Irish workers.

I hope the amendments I have suggested will be accepted in the interest of protecting workers in general, in the interest of protecting harmony within the workforce and in the interest of equality for agency workers and Irish workers.

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