Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment and welcome the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty. I also welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill. I commend Senator Gavan, in particular, and his colleagues, as well as my colleague Senator Gerald Nash and the other Labour Party Senators who have been so instrumental in supporting the Bill. I welcome all of those in the Visitors Gallery who have worked so hard and for so long to ensure workers will have a legal right to receive their tips. I thank Senators Gavan and Nash for organising what was a really good and helpful briefing in the audio visual room yesterday, at which Fiona Dunne from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, a speaker from One Galway and others were present to highlight the importance of legislation such as this.

I also speak in support of Senator Gavan's amendment which is sensible. It seeks to place the Bill within the framework of employment protection legislation. That is an important aspect of the amendment and the Bill which should be seen within the wider context of ensuring protection for workers in vulnerable positions in precarious industries, as well as in industries in which traditionally they have been low paid.

I agree with Senator Gavan that it would be great to see a cross-party consensus emerge on this issue. There is consensus in this House across every party and the Independents, but, unfortunately, there is no support from the Government party of Fine Gael. During the debate in the House on a previous Bill of mine, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap Information) Bill 2017 which was subsequently passed on Second Stage in the Dáil, we saw a cross-party consensus emerge on the need for the protection of workers and to ensure we would have in place a robust employment protection legislative framework. It would be very valuable if the same consensus emerged in the Seanad and the Bill was passed on Report Stage without a vote.

I am aware there has been great support from writers such as Deirdre Falvey, Richard Grogan and others who have illustrated the wider context and the need to ensure a legal right for workers tor receive their tips. They have also illustrated the really shabby practices across the hospitality sector in Ireland and elsewhere, whereby tips and so-called service charges are routinely withheld for spurious reasons. Like many colleagues, I worked for many years in the restaurant industry and the hospitality sector as a waitress, a bar person and so on. I am very much aware of the huge importance of tips in the industry. I was also privileged to hear a speech recently by Saru Jayaraman, the founder of Restaurant Opportunities Centres, ROC, United which has been building a major campaign across the United States of America to illustrate the unfairness of an industry that relies heavily on and withholds tips. The campaign also illustrates the history of the practice of tipping. It originated in feudal Europe and became widespread and established in the United States post-emancipation when the restaurant industry won the right to employ liberated slaves without having to pay them a wage. It was the only industry, apart from Pullman car porters, to do so. Right into the 20th century various states won the right to exempt the restaurant industry from minimum wage legislation. There is now a massive campaign across the United States - One Fair Wage - to seek the removal of that exemption for the restaurant industry and ensure tips will be seen as a gratuity and not as part of the wages of an employee. That is the context in which this important Bill has been put before us.I would urge colleagues to read Jayaraman's book, Forked: A New Standard for American Dining, which sets out the history of tipping and the implications, not only for the restaurant industry but for society, where tipping becomes acceptable as a replacement for wages and where employees are not respected within an industry and are not paid fair wages. We do not have the same practice here where restaurants are exempt from the minimum wage, and yet what we have seen is the widespread usage by employers of tipping as a supplement to or a part of wages and that is what this Bill is seeking to avoid. The Bill is to ensure that employees are entitled to keep tips as a gratuity on top of wages, and that employers cannot withhold them for spurious reasons. Senators who have any knowledge of this area will be aware of how important this is for the many people working in the industry.

In the US, ROC United has produced a diner's guide to highlight the good practice of many employers which treat tips purely as gratuity, which pay fair wages and which do not withhold tips or service charges. There are now incentives being built in for good practice employers so that they are not undercut by employers who are withholding and depriving workers of tips. That is a positive initiative. It is name and fame rather than name and shame. My party used that language with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (Gender Pay Gap Information) Bill 2017, as the Minister will be aware, to ensure that there are incentives for employers which are adopting good practices and which are seeking to ensure robust workplace practices for the protection of workers.

I am sorry for indulging the patience of the House a little on Report Stage. This is an important Bill and I urge colleagues from all sides of the House to support it. I commend Senators Gavan, Nash and all those who put this important Bill forward.