Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also thank Deputy Collins for bringing this legislation to the House. The Bill aims to standardise the deductions of trade union subscriptions at wage source for presentation to the union. This would be a positive development for workers who may encounter employers who take advantage of trade union disputes, seek to prevent the establishment of trade unions or attempt other trade union-busting measures. The Government has tabled an amendment to frustrate it by declining a Second Reading for a number of reasons. If the Government has any concerns with the Bill, what is its problem with addressing them on Committee and Report Stages? I oppose the Government amendment.

We regularly hear in this House criticism of the wage disparity between the private and public sectors because of the public sector having a much higher level of collective bargaining than the private sector. This Bill, which has the support of Mandate and the Financial Services Union, trade unions that have experience of employers withholding subscriptions and adjustments for other member information, would only strengthen the hand of workers in the private sector. To see the Government attempting to prevent the Bill from going any further is deeply disheartening for many ordinary workers in a country that has among the lowest rates of collective bargaining and trade union density in the EU.

What message is the Government sending out to workers? There is no indication in its amendment that it has any intention of addressing the issues it has pointed out. Time and again, the Government trots out figures, yet consistent poverty rates and levels of deprivation in certain areas and among certain groups reveal the inequality that exists in this country for workers. The Government, however, is obviously resistant to addressing this.

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