PRESENTATION TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF JOBS, ENTERPRISE AND
INNOVATION, TUESDAY, 3RD MARCH 2015
GERRY LIGHT – ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY, MANDATE TRADE UNION
Firstly Chair, I would like to thank you and the Committee for your invitation to
appear before you today. By way of introduction Mandate Trade Union is one of the
country’s largest private sector unions representing some 45,000 workers across
retail, distribution, administration and the licensed trade. Not surprisingly our
membership is predominantly female who work in the main part-time hours.
Significantly, the sector in which we are active accounts for more than 250,000
workers or approximately 15.5% of the entire workforce in our economy. The
importance and value of retail work has significantly increased largely due to the
hollowing out and loss of decent employment in other traditional sectors such as
construction and manufacturing during the years of economic recession. In many
instances the earnings derived from retail have become the principle income for
many households.
Many of the relevant background issues pertinent to this important debate being
considered today were highlighted when we presented before this very committee in
September 2013. Therefore, I would urge committee members to revert to our
previous presentation along with what we have to say today in order to build a
comprehensive brief on this crucial issue to many thousands of low paid workers and
their dependents.
The growth of precarious work and low insecure wages is in no doubt the fuel that
drives income inequality both in Ireland and indeed globally. However, we would
suggest that the problem here is particularly acute based on recent research
emanating from TASC titled “Cherishing All Equally: Economic Inequality in Ireland”
As we emerge from many years of economic recession and associated austerity
policies which imposed hardship on many of our citizens it’s time to fundamentally
address the type of society that will emerge and the degree of influence open to us
in shaping it. Do we repeat the mistakes of the past by placing the greed of the
market ahead of the needs of our people? Much emphasis has recently been placed
on the importance of work in building both economic and social prosperity into the
future. The slogan of “work must pay” is one which is commonly recited however we
must ensure that we go far beyond the rhetoric and ensure that this aspiration
becomes a reality for the many thousands of current and indeed perspective workers
who are not only entitled to it, but also deserve it. Clearly there now exists a moral
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imperative on behalf of the State and employers to create a fundamental shift in
how we view the world of work and ensure that the “jobs at any cost strategy” does
not become counterproductive.
Based on previous experiences if left to their own devises far too many employers
will ignore this call for a fairer and more decent workplace. You only have to listen to
some of the submissions made to this Committee over the last few weeks to identify
the extent of the challenge which faces those who are caught in exploitative, low
paid employment. Little hope is offered to them in the IBEC position which strongly
rejects the concept of a living wage but also strenuously argues against any increase
in the statutory minimum wage. The ISME approach seems to suggest that the State
should step up its commitment to social transfers in order to offset the potential
poverty traps associated with precarious low paid work – significantly though, ISME
fails to indicate what further taxation measures they would propose in order to
facilitate such a policy. Of course the intent behind this suggestion is to primarily
shift the responsibility from employers to pay a fair and decent wage to their
employees. Far too many employers subscribe to the call for wage restraint because
wage increases might cause damage to economic recovery Surely a more
courageous and creative attitude must be demanded from employers. They cannot
be allowed wash their hands of their collective responsibility towards building a
sustainable economy along with a fairer society.
In the face of this determined resistance by large groups of employers the State for
its part must set out a clear vision and create a culture whereby a fairer sustainable
deal is achievable for not only low paid but indeed all workers. As I have already
stated this is a moral imperative and essential if we are to create a society in which
the general discourse around issues such as statutory minimum and living wage
thresholds can take place in a balanced manner ensuring that the voices of all parties
can be afforded the respect, dignity and influence that they deserve. The traditional
power shift between labour and capital has dramatically increased in favour of the
latter, particularly during periods of heightened economic recession. This reality is
most apparent in the fall in disposable incomes and subsequent dramatic decline in
domestic consumption which has occurred in recent times. The shift in this power
balance is also linked to the numbers of workers who are Trade Union members. The
right to collectively bargain in a meaningful way must be a cornerstone to any new
order that emerges over the coming years. In this regard the proposed introduction
of legislation in this area is to be welcomed but employers must not be allowed an
easy route away from the obligations which are placed upon them. For far too long
many employers have been allowed through our voluntarist model of industrial
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relations adopt a dismissive and hypocritical approach to the real value of a workers
constitutional right to become a member of a Trade Union. This is best highlighted in
a recent letter from management in Dunnes Stores to its 10,000 employees where it
is stated that the company “wholehearthly endorses” the right to join a union
however in the course of the same correspondence it states “the Company will not
enter into direct discussions with a Trade Union”. It must be pointed out that this
letter was written within the context of an ongoing dispute we are having with this
extremely profitable Irish employer which not surprisingly centres on the core issues
of decent work. The existence and outcomes from a robust meaningful collective
bargaining environment not only has the direct effect of lifting workers out of
precarious working conditions but also lessens greatly the pressure and obligations
on the State to provide support structures which prevent more workers being
exploited and moving deeper into workplace poverty. Many employers are prepared
to do the right thing by their employees and enter into collective agreements with
Mandate to produce working conditions which are decent and fair. In the main this
ensures that the workers concerned do not have to turn to the State to supplement
their earnings in order that they and their dependents can reach a basic standard of
living. As a result of pay enhancements we have negotiated for our members in the
past three years it is estimated that over €30 million has directly returned through
consumption back into the domestic economy. This has had the combined effect of
reducing social welfare transfers, increased economic activity which has helped
maintain and create more jobs, increased revenue for the State through Employers’
PRSI, Income Tax, Employee’s PRSI and VAT receipts, while also reducing poverty and
deprivation levels.
Much of the proponents who argue against provisions such as a statutory minimum
and a living wage do so on the basis that the market must be free to compete
without undue restrictions and ultimately wage levels and working conditions will
find their own levels. Such unfettered self-regulation has proven in the past to have
unquestionably failed to the extent that it could not predict or prevent the damage
which was ultimately inflicted on the very economic model which it underpins. Also
this ideology seems to conveniently ignore the voice of workers by denying them
meaningful access to the negotiating table either individually or collectively in order
to present their case. Therefore, whilst many thousands of workers remain outside
of the protection of Union membership and those who are members are denied the
right to be properly represented the demand is greater than ever to challenge some
of the stale narrow minded thinking which has so dramatically failed, particularly in
the recent past.
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Albeit on the back of a slow economic recovery we call for a new Code of Practice
which establishes a framework that promotes genuine access to full time
employment and an end to involuntary part time working where it is feasible and
possible to do so. This can be best achieved by re focusing and developing the
relevant parts of EU Directive 97/81/EC which was subsequently transposed into Irish
law and largely contained in a Code of Practice drawn up by The Labour Relations
Commission in 2006 titled “Code of Practice on Access to Part Time Working”. As
the title suggests the main intent behind the Directive was to facilitate the transition
to part time working in the context of encouraging and promoting the development
of a flexible labour market. A much overlooked and largely ignored provision within
the Directive and indeed the Code is a requirement to consider “requests by workers
to transfer from part-time to full-time work or to increase their working time
should the opportunity arise”. Sadly, the application of this objective has been little
practiced in the intervening years with the main emphasis being on the erosion of
full time employment rather than its creation. The original Directive goes on to
state…”Implementation of the provisions of this agreement shall not constitute valid
grounds for reducing the general level of protection afforded to workers in the field of
this agreement. This does not prejudice the right of Member States and/or social
partners to develop different legislative, regulatory or contractual provisions, in the
light of changing circumstances”…
The adoption of our call for a new Code of Practice will have the effect of sending out
a clear message that as a society we are intent in moving away from an employment
model which has resulted in Ireland currently having the highest prevelance of low
paid jobs in the OECD, second only to the US. It will also have the effect of telling
certain employers and their representatives who continue to display a narrow and
self serving attitude that they cannot be allowed ride two horses. On the one hand
they cannot deliberately continue to skew the balance of power in their favour by
refusing workers real and meaningful access to collective bargaining rights whilst on
the other argue against protective statutory measures such as minimum and living
wage thresholds, the existence of which are a consequential necessity directly arising
from their regressive attitude towards workers’ rights to collectively bargain in the
first instance. Refusal by employers to address this crucial point will result in
measures such as statutory minimum and living wage thresholds being an essential
part of our employment scene for many years to come.
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