Mandate calls on politicians to support ‘Decent Work’

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Mandate Trade Union has today called on all politicians to support ‘Decent Work’ and not the ‘jobs at any cost’ approach that has been creeping into the Irish workforce since the economic crisis began.

Mandate gave a presentation to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, where the union highlighted the increase in precarious work that has come to light following a study they commissioned entitled, Decent Work? The Impact of the Recession on Low Paid Workers.

Gerry Light, Assistant Secretary of Mandate told the committee there are more than a quarter of a million people working in the retail and wholesale sector but the quality and standards of employment are being rapidly eroded.

“Recent CSO data shows that involuntary part-time working is growing with over 135,000 workers classified as underemployed which represents a staggering increase of 46% from 2008. It is also the highest figure in the EU.”

Mr Light said politicians and public representatives need to have real awareness of precarious work and we need to make a decision as to what type of workforce and society we want.

He said, “While Mandate welcomes the recent news that Irish employment has increased of late, we must be sure to create quality employment and not precarious, insecure and unsustainable jobs that don’t provide workers with a decent standard of living.”

Mandate commissioned Behaviour and Attitudes to conduct a survey of the unions’ membership which produced the following findings:

• Less than 33% have full time contracts;
• 50% have their hours changed at least once a month;
• 40% reported a fall in take home pay, on average €109 per week;
• 60% were seeking additional hours;
• 70% said they were less inclined to go to a doctor;
• 97% receive no shift allowance;
• 17% claim a social welfare payment; and
• 10% have another job.

He added that calls from employers for more and more flexibility from Irish workers were dangerous and ill-founded.

“The Irish labour market is currently one of the most flexible within the OECD with statistics showing that we are sixth out of forty two countries. More significantly, only the UK is more flexible in the EU.

“More than 25% of the workforce is low paid and recent Eurostat labour cost data shows that Irish retail labour costs are 20.6% below the average of the other EU-15 countries and 37.4% below the average of other comparable small open economies.

Mr Light concluded by saying the government has a very large part to play in providing solutions to the growing phenomena of precarious work, including:

• Reforming the PRSI system to remove the incentive to hire part-time rather than full-time workers.
• Reforming the social welfare system to recognise the reality of precarious work.
• Introducing a refundable tax credit.
• The introduction of effective collective bargaining rights for workers.
• Introducing a stimulus package to lift consumer confidence and spending in the domestic economy.
• Introducing an effective training support system for the under-employed and low skilled workers.

Full access to Mandate’s Decent Work report can be found here.