ICTU calls for strategy on migrant workers

The majority of Irish employers are not doing enough to deal with discrimination against migrant workers, the General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said today.

Mr David Begg said a coherent Government strategy on migrant workers was urgently required to deal with the fears and ignorance which had been reactivated by the Nice treaty debate.

"The recent court case, which exposed the exploitation of three Brazilian workers in Dublin, has highlighted the shameful treatment of immigrant workers by a minority of unscrupulous employers," said Mr Begg.

He said the ICTU was "committed to campaigning for a transparent and fair recruitment system for migrant workers, to pursuing proper support structures and co-operating fully with integration programmes in the workplace in the workplace and in the community".

Also speaking at the start of the third Anti-Racist Workplace Week, was Mr Niall Crowley, ceo of the Equality Authority. He said cases under the equality act involving migrant workers had tripled over the last two years, with equal pay and excessive hours the primary complaints.

To mark the week the Equality Authority published a study into workplace equality. The report found that less than half of all organisations have a formal written policy to deal with equality issues.

And although most organisations claim to have an informal procedure to deal with equality issues, this is described as a "limited and inadequate" response.

The report also found that four out of every five organisations have not taken any specific action to promote equality and/or avoid discrimination on the grounds of race.