Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:"recognises the failure of Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to provide specific legislation to protect workers' rights, which has seen the basic rights of workers denied in situations such as those that occurred in Lagan Brick, Vita Cortex, TalkTalk, La Senza, Clerys, Dunnes Stores and Paris Bakery among others, leading in some cases to sit-in protests by workers while Labour and Fine Gael did nothing;

calls therefore on the Government to prepare and introduce a legislative package that will protect and enhance workers’ rights by:

— guaranteeing the right of access of trade unions to:

— consult their members and prospective members in the workplace;

— conduct health and safety inspections on behalf of their members in the workplace; and

— conduct employment law inspections on behalf of their members in the workplace;

— allowing Gardaí and the Defence Forces to engage in collective bargaining, to join national trade union umbrella organisations and to allow Gardaí go on strike;

— ensuring that trade union recognition is part of the terms of reference for all public contracts and public procurement contracts;

— making tactical insolvencies a statutory offence;

— amending the Companies Act 2014 to hold a company officer or officers acting on behalf of a corporate body personally liable where a breach of employment law is committed;

— ending the abuse of 'if and when' contracts through legislation on minimum guaranteed hours, notice of offers of work, notice of cancellation of work and hours of work per employment periods;

— combatting bogus self-employment; and

— providing statutory redress for the victims of workplace bullying; and

notes the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation's Report on Low Pay, Decent Work, and a Living Wage(November 2015) and the Cahill-Duffy Expert Examination and Review of Laws on the Protection of Employee Interests when assets are separated from the operating entity; and commends the recommendations set out in both these reports and calls on the Government as an urgent priority to prepare legislation for their implementation."

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