Begg rejects minimum wage claims

General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions David Begg has denied claims that the Lisbon Treaty puts Ireland's minimum wage in jeopardy.

Mr Begg said today there was "no basis" for the assertion that passing the treaty in Friday's referendum would pose a threat to the national minimum wage and would lead to a "race to the bottom".

Posters placed by the No campaign have claimed the minimum wage would be cut if the treaty is ratified, with Cóir posters questioning whether it could fall to €1.84.

The claim has been consistently denied by politicians supporting the treaty, who say that Europe has no role in setting the minimum wage rates.

That assertion was echoed by Mr Begg today.

“There is a basic statutory minimum wage of €8.65 per hour that must apply to all adult workers in Ireland, and in addition there are also a range of statutory higher minima that apply to a range of specific sectors," he said.

Mr Begg said the rate was set either by the agreement of the social partners or by a recommendation from the Labour Court if such an agreement could not be reached.

"The Minister establishes the rate as legally enforceable," Mr Begg said. "This is solely a national process and there is no role whatsoever for any European institution in either the process or the rate itself. This is set out in Article 137(5) of the existing treaty and there is no change under the Lisbon Treaty."

Mr Begg said statutory minimum rates for the construction, electrical contracting, printing and drapery sectors above the basic minimum are also legally enforceable, as are those set by the Labour Court for sectors including hotels, retail, catering, cleaning, security and agriculture

“This extensive range of statutory minimum rates negotiated under our industrial relations’ structures offers protection to workers in Ireland from the race to the bottom that some on the No side have raised.

"On March 2nd, the Labour Court confirmed the Registered Employment Agreement for the Electrical Contracting Industry was not affected by the Laval judgment,” Mr Begg said.

In 2007, Swedish unions took action against Latvian construction company Laval over the working conditions of Latvian employees refurbishing a school in the town of Vaxholm. The European Court of Justice subsequently found that a trade union blockade over the use of cheaper Latvian labourers, which forced the company into bankruptcy, was illegal.

"Such action in the form of a blockade of sites constitutes a restriction on the freedom to provide services, which, in this case, is not justified with regard to the public interest of protecting workers," the court said.