Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Nash on introducing this Bill. It is about democratising workplaces, giving workers a voice and setting livable conditions where there were previously none. The principles have been rehearsed. The joint labour committees have not been established for agriculture workers, catering workers, hairdressers, hotel workers, with the exception of those in Cork, and the retail, grocery and allied trades. There is no doubt that many of these sectors have employers who hire workers under some of the most precarious conditions. Having heard Senator Gavan allude to some of the most vigorous opposition to the tips Bill, which simply allowed workers to retain their tips, we can see why many employers do not want workers to have a seat at the table. With regard to the opposition to that Bill and the utility of the loophole in the joint labour committee legislation, good employers have nothing to fear. Where workers are paid a reasonable wage and have fair conditions, there is no need for joint labour committees.

The reality, however, is that the joint labour committees are necessary. There are instances in which staff are subject to increasingly precarious conditions. The sectors in question employ large numbers of young people, students and migrant workers, many of whom are vulnerable. I thank the deputy president of the Union of Students of Ireland, USI, Ms Michelle Byrne, for passing on a USI survey of working students last year that found that 34% were paid under the minimum wage and that 58% were paid €9.55, the then minimum wage, or €10.55 per hour. Workers also indicated that many of them do not receive contracts and they highlighted questionable practices concerning tipping in their workplaces. Mr. Conor Stitt, with whom I work upstairs, attended the audiovisual room briefing held by Senator Nash. One SIPTU member, Mr. Martin Murga, a chef, said it best:

The pursuit of profit pits worker against worker, good employer against bad employer. Such a process leads to ever declining pay and conditions in a sector. This adversely impacts on workers and customers. JLCs are the best way to ensure that the race to the bottom is ended and this proposed new law will help them function better.

I understand the Government is opposing this Bill. I respectfully ask it to reconsider. I ask Fianna Fáil, in particular, to reconsider. Opposing this Bill sends a terrible message to workers that their voice is not worthy of being heard in any reasonable way and that they must wait. Workers will not wait and they deserve better.