Non-Irish are paid slave wages, says union
Monday September 03 2007
A leading trade unionist warned that tens of thousands of foreign nationals are being exploited and paid slave labour wages, and the worst offenders are ethnic businesses run by their own compatriots.
According to Ray O'Reilly of the Independent Workers Union (IWU), the practice is widespread and going on all over the country:
"It is unbelievable what is going on out there. The Chinese do it to the Chinese, the Poles do it to the Poles, the Romanians do it to the Romanians and the Irish do it too," says Ray O'Reilly.
Laying-off
Among the practices uncovered were slave-labour wages as low as €4 an hour, as well as the laying-off of longstanding employees with employers refusing to pay them their statutory redundancy money.
Another common practice are "Mock Day" trials, where a prospective employee is asked to work from morning till night for nothing in the hope of getting a job, only to be then informed that they are not suitable.
With a steady stream of people looking for jobs, unscrupulous employers can have someone working every day of the week for absolutely nothing.
Last week the IWU placed a picket on a Polish restaurant in Dublin City Centre who were running a "Mock Day" scam. The picket was later removed after the issue was resolved.
"It is going on everywhere. There are thousands of people in this situation in Dublin, it is a major problem. Employers take advantage of these people because they have a language barrier and they don't know their rights," explains Ray O'Reilly.
