Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

Will the Taoiseach join me in congratulating two female migrant workers who recently won a quite significant claim against their unfair dismissal in the Labour Court? Julia Marciniak, who is originally from Poland, and Lenka Laiermanova, who is originally from the Czech Republic, were found to have been sacked by the Ivy restaurant on Dawson Street for trade union activity. These two experienced waitresses joined the newly opened Ivy restaurant in 2018. They found that customer tips were being taken by management and were being used to make up the difference between their contracted wages and the minimum wage. After Lenka contacted me through my constituency office, I arranged for her and for a group of her fellow workers to meet the trade union Unite, which they joined. It sought negotiation rights with the Ivy, which were rejected.

It is quite rare for an unfair dismissal case over trade union activity to be won in the Labour Court and the case has a wider significance. That significance is that while the Unfair Dismissals Act only kicks in after one year of work with a specific employer, there are exceptions to this, one of which is trade union activity. However, that one-year rule gives some employers and managers a licence to dismiss workers on a whim. As Julia said to The Irish Times, “if you ask about your breaks, you can be dismissed. See ya!” Both Julia and Lenka, as well as Unite’s regional secretary, Brendan Ogle, have called for the Act to be amended to give all workers protection against unfair dismissal from day one of their employment.

The other aspect of this is that there is no penalty under the Act for employers that are found to have unfairly dismissed staff. All the Labour Court can do is make an employer pay for loss of earnings for up to two years after an unfair dismissal. As both Julia and Lenka found work and new jobs very quickly, the compensation to be paid by the Ivy is quite limited. There should be penalties against employers that are found to have unfairly dismissed workers.

Finally, will the Taoiseach join me in congratulating Julia and Lenka and their trade union, Unite, on this victory over a very exploitive, bullying employer, as well as encouraging all workers who are suffering low pay, who are being bullied by employers and managers and are being denied their rights under labour law to join a union and to stand up for themselves and their workmates? When you act together with the backing of your union, you can win.

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