Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As a former SIPTU shop steward for many years, I know of the campaigns of intimidation and anti-union tactics that can go on in workplaces. I stand here as one of the few people who knows what it is to take workers out on strike. A young organiser told me recently that he invited some fellow workers to join his union but they asked him why they would do that because they want to be promoted at some point. There is often a fear of retaliation in joining a trade union. Many employers have used this fear to drive down terms and conditions, increase casualisation and get more work out of people outside of contracted terms and conditions. They are all threatening in the way they do that. They ensure that there is precarious work and unions cannot strengthen the rights of workers through the tactics they employ.

Since this Government was formed, efforts to improve workers' rights have stalled. We have no Minister with responsibility for labour affairs. There was an excellent Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs in the previous Government. The amount of legislation that former Deputy Ged Nash got through was incredible. In the programme for Government, only two paragraphs relate to this area. That is depressing. The Low Pay Commission, while still carrying out valuable work, has not been given a new mandate to reach a living wage and has awarded only a 10% increase in the minimum wage for this year. There have been no Government efforts to tackle the increasing use of precarious contracts. The Protection of Employment (Uncertain Hours) Bill proposed by my party would protect against the use of zero-hour and if-and-when contracts and would support workers and create stable employment. The place where the highest number of these contracts exists is over the Border in Northern Ireland. The world of work is rapidly changing and yet we have seen no Government response. It is easier for employers to impose non-standard terms and conditions and precarious work on low paid workers. Low pay, insecure hours and enforced and bogus self-employment are all contributing to a weakening of social mobility and secure work.

During the crisis across Europe and the developed world, many governments dealt with the crisis by cutting the rights of workers. The Labour Party ensured this did not happen in Ireland and that is a fact. I have quoted Jack O'Connor but I could also quote Patricia King of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU. We restored the €1 cut to the minimum wage, which was made by Fianna Fáil, the so-called social democratic party, after its recent branding. We then went on to increase it by a further 50 cent. In 2012 we restored the joint labour committee, JLC, system through the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act and employment regulation orders are now in place for over 55,000 low-paid security and contract cleaning staff. This has ensured these workers received pay rises over recent years. From December 2016, contract cleaning staff will receive their second pay increase of just over 10% under the employment regulation order that the Labour Party made possible. In 2015, we historically brought into law collective bargaining rights for workers. We are seeing the benefit of that law now. SIPTU secured a landmark Labour Court ruling against a sandwich maker in June with a €2.12 per hour pay increase for over 50 staff at a company in Ballymun. A sick leave scheme is to be introduced and a number of other benefits are going to all the workers. SIPTU's manufacturing division took the case under the legislation which provides for binding increases in pay and conditions in circumstances where an employer does not engage in collective bargaining.

The Communications Workers Union was also able to use the legislation against a company recently operating a 999 call centre, and there are many more examples.

The first new registered employment agreement, REA, was put in place for Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. Disgracefully, however, the management is currently ignoring it. We will know how this will end. As the crisis in Bus Éireann unfolds, the Labour Party, again trying to be progressive, has proposed that it is time to look at a sectoral employment order for the bus transport industry in order to ensure that workers will be protected and that there will not be a race to the bottom. We need to examine the workplace bullying legislation, the bogus self-employment legislation that is hitting small businesses and the self-employed and if-and-when contracts. The latter must be dealt with. We also need to extend the hours laid down under the transfer of undertakings directive and regulations, TUPE, to many other sectors, including the security and hospitality sectors.

To end on a better note and in fairness to the Minister - we do not always see eye to eye - she has supported a Bill, which has passed through the Seanad, the Competition (Amendment) Bill, which relates to freelance workers and which protects songwriters, singers and performers. She also supported amendments to that legislation which we will be accepting. We will introduce that Bill in the Dáil in the coming weeks and I ask every Member to support it in order to allow collective bargaining and negotiating on behalf of all those workers also.

We will be supporting the Bill before the House and we hope to work on it in committee.

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