Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I passed by the Ivy restaurant on my way to the House today in order to have a look at its quite extensive menu, which mentions a 12.5% service charge. It did not mention the price of being a member of a trade union but, thanks to the Labour Court, we now know that price in light of the fact that two very brave young women lost their jobs as a direct result of joining a trade union and of trade union activism. The 32-page judgment is well worth reading. It outlines how the case against these two workers was completely fabricated, how cameras in their changing rooms provided footage that was sent directly to management and the appalling victimisation of people just seeking the right to join and be represented by a trade union.

It was a good day for workers' rights when the two women got justice got in the court, but the elephant in the room, of course, is that the Ivy restaurant was just implementing accepted policy. The Restaurants Association of Ireland and the Irish Hotels Federation are absolutely clear that they do not recognise trade unions nor engage in collective bargaining, which is why there is no joint labour committee for hotels that could put a floor of decency back into the sector. I again reference Dr. Deirdre Curran and the powerful report she compiled just prior to Covid in which she detailed a series of levels of abuse throughout the sector. They relate not just to breaches of employment rights but also to verbal, psychological and physical abuse of workers.

Let us face it: the hospitality sector enjoys considerable lobbying in this Chamber and in the Dáil. When will this House call on the sector, very simply, to recognise the right to collective bargaining, engage in a joint labour committee process and ensure standards of decency are put back into the sector? There cannot be more victims like those two brave young women, who just wanted to join a trade union and be represented. All of us need to stand up. I ask for an urgent debate on the matter.