Dáil debates

Friday, 2 July 2021

Workplace Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage

 

12:35 pm

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Zalewski and his legal team for pursuing this case and laying bare the fantasy that operates in relation to third-party arbitration and industrial relations in this country. That fantasy is that we have, as the Government insists on saying over and over again, a voluntarist system, that is, a system whereby that employers and employees are equal and agree freely to enter or not to enter into contracts or employment.

Behind the technical definitions, legal interpretations and judgment in the Zalewski case that we are legislating for is a simple and stark fact. A security worker was the victim of an unfair dismissal. His employer did not bother to have witnesses show up but a judgment was issued anyway. It was only because he and his legal team pursued the case that it went any further. The case shows what many workers experience at the WRC and elsewhere. It is not justice, fairness or vindication of their rights but a confusing and heavily unbalanced system which rewards the action of employers who drag out the process and hope that workers who do not have matching resources will give up or move on. In this case, the adjudicator's decision made reference to documents and written evidence from the employer which the worker had not seen or been given.

Unfortunately, I do not believe that Mr. Zalewski's experience was a one-off or particularly unusual. Many workers have had similar experiences in these forums whereby a process is dragged out by employers, appeals are left to the last minute, IBEC hires and sponsors lawyers and legal experts are used. The cost, the length of time it takes and the entire process militates against workers taking cases.

There is also the arbitrary nature of awards. Workers do not know if they will be awarded €1,000, €5,000 or €10,000 if they are successful. That militates against workers taking an action. In many cases, workers find it difficult, even when they have a decision in their favour, to have it enforced. We should provide free legal aid for workers to take cases to the District Court for them to be enforced. There is also the question of unfair dismissal for complaints relating to health and safety. It is clearly against the law but if someone has not been working there for 12 months, they will not be able to take a case and get justice.

Far from the fantasy of a system based on equal power between workers and employers, this case is an example of the imbalance between the two. The system is based on that inequality of power and it reflects wider issues about workers' rights and the lack of them in this country. There is the lack of a right to union recognition or to have a union representative in the workplace to fight for workers' rights. There are anti-union laws - I refer to the Industrial Relations Acts - which must be repealed. These are laws which were copied and pasted, in large part, from Thatcher's laws. There are also laws against solidarity and secondary picketing. The entire industrial relations machinery in this State is designed to give employers the upper hand in dealing with workers. The odds are heavily stacked against workers. That is what a voluntarist system means. It is effectively a free-for-all for employers.

The results of that deliberate policy can be seen everywhere. Ireland will rank at the bottom of almost every indicator for workers' rights across Europe. It is seen in the prevalence of low pay, the growth of precarious employment, the widespread abuse of migrant labour and young workers, the spread of bogus self-employment to evade paying sick pay, pension or other entitlements, the attacks on pension rights and defined benefits schemes and the absence of a statutory sick pay scheme. Ireland is one of five countries in the EU without such a scheme. We have been presented with a very weak proposal from the Government, which is too little, too late, the purpose of which is to address this matter in the aftermath of Covid shedding a light on it. We are close to the bottom of the table in terms of annual leave and public holidays.

I do not believe this Bill adequately addresses the systemic issues and problems faced by workers seeking justice. I have concerns, given the unequal and severely unbalanced system we have, about the measure, which I agree with in general, introducing a fine for giving false evidence. In a scenario where evidence is disputed and there are two contradictory statements of fact by the employer and the worker, I fear that such a measure could be used to say to the worker that if he or she takes a case and it is not found in his or her favour, he or she could face a fine of up to €100,000 and a possible prison sentence of ten years. It could be used to intimidate workers from taking cases. We will have to watch carefully for that and react if it happens.

I will make a point on the under-resourcing of the WRC, especially on the inspections side. Since 2016, it was agreed as part of a national pay deal that the number of inspectors would increase to 90. As of 1 May 2021, there are 53 inspectors. While workers' representatives, unions and most of society knows there has been a rapid increase in the abuses of workers rights, the State has not bothered to increase or even achieve the agreed level of workplace inspectors. That was highlighted, above all, in the meat plants, where the Government turned a conscious blind eye to what was happening. It accused those of us who raised concerns of slandering the meat factory owners and the inspections came very late. The fact the WRC has detected breaches in more than one third of its investigations tell us that, if more inspections took place, we would uncover significantly more breaches. Almost 36% found breaches by employers regarding non-payment of the minimum wage, employment permits, protection of young persons, annual leave and public holiday entitlements and unpaid wages. Sectors such as food and drink, retail, wholesale, hair and beauty and construction have seen consistent breaches of employment law in recent years.

I refer to the allegations made by George McLoughlin, a former inspector with the forerunner to the WRC. The allegations are extremely serious. I have spoken to him. He is not making wild allegations that are not backed up with documentary evidence. In an observation to Village magazine, he said-----

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