The government have been accused of siding with union-busting low-pay bosses against workers, after comments made by Minister Alan Dillon during a debate in the Dail on People Before Profit’s Trade Unoin Recognition Bill.
Explaining why the government opposes the bill, Minister Alan Dillon said the current voluntary system, whereby bosses may refuse to recognise unions 'has served us well' in particular pointing to 'Ireland’s attractiveness as an investment location' and supporting 'productivity and fair wages, especially in low-paid sectors'.
Paul Murphy TD has said these comments 'let the cat out of the bag' and shows that the government 'are voting against workers' rights to placate anti-union, low pay companies like Ryanair and Amazon'.
'Ireland is an outlier when it comes to trade union rights. Even in the US, if enough workers join a union, bosses have to recognise that union and negotiate with them. But in Ireland we have a so-called "voluntary system" which allows bosses to simply refuse to talk to the union. Anti-union, low-pay companies such Ryanair and Amazon have been "served very well" by this policy, but it has led to Ireland having a very high level of low pay, and workers being denied a voice at work.
'The Minister has admitted today that this is not an accident, but by design. They are planning to vote against our bill, and defend the boss's veto, precisely because they think that’s what's best for "attractiveness" and "productivity" in low-paid sectors. They are making a conscious political decision to stand with Amazon and Ryanair and against workers and unions, and they cannot hide from that any more.'
The socialist TD also criticsed the ‘Lowry-group’ of independents for skipping the debate today. 'This is a group who held up the Dail for weeks demanding they get extra privileges in terms of speaking time, and yet they didn’t even show up for their 10 minutes on this topic.'