Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The legislative changes we have proposed in this Private Members' motion will benefit all workers, particularly an emerging group of vulnerable workers described as the precariat, heavily concentrated in the retail and hospitality sectors and across the service industry. Their working lives are characterised by low pay, part-time work and uncertain hours. Ireland has the second highest levels of low pay in the OECD and one of the most "flexible" labour markets. Employers and businesses stress the importance of flexibility to economic recovery, as does Government, but flexibility in the workplace is starting to look more like exploitation. They emphasise the notion of 'choice' but the reality is different.

Low-paid workers want security around their working hours, decent rates of pay, permanent employment contracts, and guaranteed working hours. In other words, they want to be treated with respect and dignity and to be free from workplace harassment and victimisation. These issues are nowhere more graphically illustrated than in the Dunnes Stores dispute. It is a classic case study of the glaring inadequacies of current legislation in protecting vulnerable workers.

The Dunnes Stores dispute illustrates the failure of the Government and in particular the Labour Party to put in place real, meaningful legislation instead of making endless commitments. Commitments to legislate do not help the workers in Dunnes Stores. Vulnerable workers like them are the last people who can afford to go on strike. For them it is the very last resort. Where else have they to go when on strike except into further poverty? The Dunnes Stores dispute demolishes the notion of flexibility and is a clear and defining argument for collective bargaining rights in legislation. Overall, almost 350,000 workers in Ireland or 19.2% of the workforce suffer multiple deprivation while another 34% of single income households in the workforce are classified as deprived. We now see the wholly unacceptable situation that 150,000 part-time workers are in receipt of dole payments. From an economic perspective this is unacceptable as depressed take home pay reduces demand in the economy as consumer spending is reduced. Investment is also depressed because businesses are reluctant to invest if they are unsure of a return from higher consumer spending. One cannot kick-start an economy and build sustainable growth on low pay.

At another level, flexibility, low pay and exploitative work practices have far-reaching and profound consequences for the broader society. Women are heavily concentrated in the ranks of the precariat. They are over-represented in the retail and hospitality sector and are more likely to have part-time work contracts and low pay. A recent survey by the Mandate trade union, which represents workers in the retail sector and in Dunnes Stores, found that seven out of ten of its members are women.

The Nevin Economic Research Institute's, NERI, most recent quarterly economic bulletin highlights the fact that 60% of low-paid workers are women. The report confirms what has already been highlighted repeatedly by Central Statistics Office, CSO, EUROSTAT, and OECD data, that a majority of low-paid workers in uncertain and precarious employment are women. Constant uncertainty around working hours and no guarantee of earnings constitutes exploitation. Financial insecurity means one cannot get a loan from a bank or the credit union. Uncertainty around working hours means one cannot organise one's family life. This has particular implications for women with children and anyone with caring responsibilities.

Taken together these factors have resulted in the increasing feminisation of poverty and an increasingly worrying trend towards the erosion in the quality of life for large numbers of women in the workforce and their families. While 25% of all workers earn less than the living wage of €11.45 per hour, CSO data tells us that 50% of all women workers earn €20,000 per annum or less. European Community figures also tell us that the gender pay gap is growing, from 12.6% in 2009 to 14.4% in 2012. The National Women's Council is now talking in terms of an income crisis for women in Ireland and has called for State-funded universal child care, social clauses in public spending and legislation to protect vulnerable workers. I suggest to the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Ó Riordáin and to Government that everything contained in this Private Members' motion should be acceptable and there is no reason to oppose these measures.

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