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

I welcome this debate on the Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022 and that the Government have brought it forward. I also welcome the fact that they are willing to listen to the issues around the service charges and have changed the legislation as it came before the Dáil.

It is very important to recognise that this Bill would not be before us if it were not for the brave stance taken by two female migrant workers, Julia Marciniak from Poland and Lenka Laiermanova from the Czech Republic. They objected to having their tips stolen by the management of The Ivy restaurant along with other workplace issues, like cameras in the changing rooms when staff were changing into their uniforms, breaks etc. Tips were stolen by management and the service charge was used to top up the difference between the minimum wage and their contracted hourly rates. Where the rest of it went, we do not know, but it was certainly not paid to the workers.

The joined the Unite trade union, for which they were sacked, and subsequently won a judgment of unfair dismissal at the Labour Court, which has a very high bar in proving that one has been sacked for joining a union. It is probably ironic that it is the only issue on which the union could take on their case, because they were not working there a year and an employer can sack a worker for any reason up to a year. That interval should be brought back to three months as an urgent issue that faces workers in the workplace, particularly in the hospitality sector, where workers move around a great deal. One can spend a year or a year and a half, and when one then goes on to another job one has no rights yet again.

This is a lesson for all workers and especially for those in the so-called hospitality sector. In far too many instances this sector offers little if any hospitality to those who work in it.

I gave a guarded welcome to the Bill and I thank the former Minister, Senator Doherty, for the initial introduction of this Bill. The initial Bill, however, did not go far enough and we are obviously here at this stage now. I say "guarded welcome" because I believe that the Bill introduced in the Seanad by Senator Gavan was much more straightforward in dealing with the issue of tip theft. This practice was not confined to The Ivy restaurant but was in fact widespread in the hospitality sector.

I also want to recognise Dr. Deirdre Curran, the lecturer and researcher in NUI Galway who has produced surveys and reports on the abuse of workers in the hospitality sector, particularly in Galway. I also recognise the One Movement in Galway and Cork and Deirdre Falvey who was one of the journalists who exposed what was going on in The Ivy restaurant and in other restaurants in her pieces and articles in the newspapers. The Bill needs careful scrutiny when it goes to Committee Stage to ensure that there are no loopholes which could allow employers to nullify the measures in the Bill.

On mandatory charges, section 4D of the Bill says that if such service charges are similar or give the customer the impression of being a tip for staff, they must be paid to staff as a tip. The Bill, however, does not clarify what is or is not a mandatory charge, which the employer can then use to cover costs, including wages. We may see employers introducing a table charge or something similar, like they sometimes put out in their tweets, such as a group booking charge. This may deter customers from leaving a tip because people may think it is a service charge and may not think beyond where that charge is going. On that basis it must be made very clear exactly where charges are going, that they are well displayed and that customers really know exactly where the money is going. Some form of amendment may be needed to clarify this issue and I ask the Minister of State to clarify that issue.

I will return now to Julia and Lenka. Their stance and victory in the Labour Court should be celebrated throughout the trade union movement especially by the Unite trade union, where Julia is now an organiser for the hospitality sector. This issue should be to the forefront of a union campaign, especially for young female migrant workers, and males also, but particularly females who make up the greatest concentration of workers in the hospitality sector. The message should be that you do not have to put up with low pay, do not have to be at your employer's beck and call with precarious contracts, do not have to put up with being treated with contempt by jumped-up so-called managers, and that you do have rights. To enforce your rights, to end poverty pay and precarious conditions, you have to get organised, join a union and fight back. Young workers are to the forefront of fighting back in Amazon, Apple stores and Starbucks, all of which have high concentrations of young workers. They are joining unions and taking on their employers on their pay and conditions. Young workers and women can be the key to the establishment of an active, militant trade union movement which is as needed today as ever it was in the past.

Finally, I thank all of the activists who were outside The Ivy restaurant who Deputy Higgins heard supporting the workers there, who came out week after week to support them, for the tremendous work they did and for their activity in and around that issue.

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