Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

At the start of the Covid crisis we were told that there was a need for national unity and that we were all in this together. The treatment of the Debenhams workers shows that we are not all in this together. In the words of the United Irishman leader, Henry Joy McCracken, "The rich will always betray the poor." Debenhams is not the only employer using Covid as cover to promote a race to the bottom. There are many others, some of whom I propose to call out this evening. We have the case of Aer Lingus, a privatised company, that availed of wage subsidies but tried to starve workers into accepting massive cuts to wages and conditions by reducing their income under the wage subsidy scheme to between €100 and €200 per week and then refusing to sign the forms needed to allow people access social welfare for the days they were not working. After an outcry Aer Lingus relented on signing the forms but the payments are not coming through fast enough and this needs to change.

We have the case of Easons which closed seven branches in Northern Ireland, making 144 workers redundant, and then transferred all of its stock to the Republic of Ireland. Easons availed and continues to avail of wage subsidy schemes North and South, about which Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland Executive has some explaining to do, in my opinion. We then have the case of Aramark Catering, which made workers redundant, made a disgraceful offer and told workers to take it or leave it after they had been promised by AIB the previous year that their terms and conditions would carry over. Congratulations to those workers now picketing the AIB Bank Centre in Ballsbridge.

Congratulations also and a big shout-out to the workers at Premier Periclase in Drogheda who have been on strike since 17 August. These are workers who are classified as essential, who went to work all through the lockdown despite the risks. Their further sacrifices were rewarded by their employer with the lay-off of 20 staff, termination of sick pay and pension arrangements and derecognition of their unions. Last but not least we have the cases of St. Mary's and St. Monica's nursing homes and the Caritas convalescent centre in Dublin which are being closed by the Sisters of Charity with the loss of 200 jobs. As in the case of Cara house in Cork, these facilities should now be taken over by the HSE.

We are not all in this together. Workers throughout the country should follow the example of the Debenhams workers and organise to defend their best interests.

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