Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this motion in support of workers' rights. The Covid crisis has brought many employment rights issues to the fore. In May, 176 job losses were announced at National Pen's European headquarters in Dundalk. This was a huge blow to the workers and their families. Some of those workers came to me and told me of similar positions being advertised by National Pen in Tunisia two days before they were told about the lay-offs. I brought this issue to the company and the job advertisements were taken down from one website and put on another. During the negotiations with management, workers were refused union representation or to have third parties with negotiations experience speak on their behalf. The workers were given training for the negotiations but that is hardly best industrial practice. In fact, it is outrageous. Union representation and collective bargaining are fundamental rights but the situation of the National Pen workers, like that of many other workers, flies in the face of best practice across the EU and is in defiance of a number of Labour Court recommendations.

Many good employers have absolutely no difficulty with meeting the conditions I am talking about. However, the continuation of a situation where employers can pick and choose who to deal with is totally unacceptable, particularly when we are talking about the legal rights of employees. It is a farce to have people who may not have experience in human resources, employment law or negotiations facing off against globally experienced management teams. What makes it worse is that some of these firms have received huge benefit via state aid and grants. National Pen has received €1.5 million in grants since 2015.

We need Government action to protect our workers and families. These are the people who work in this economy and maintain and sustain it. These are the people who maintain and sustain this very society. We cannot have no Government action, or have cases where the Government stands not with National Pen and Debenhams workers but with Apple. We need people to make absolutely sure that we have a Government that protects their basic rights. What we need to offer people is decent, secure work and protections. Caithfimid an tacaíocht seo a thabhairt dóibh.

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