Call for end to lower minimum wage for students

USI:THE UNION of Students in Ireland (USI) has called for the exploitation of younger workers to cease.

Delegates at the USI's annual congress, which finishes in Bettystown, Co Meath, this morning, voted to lobby the Government for the abolition of differential minimum wage levels for adults.

The student leaders condemned the fact that thousands of adult workers are excluded from the standard minimum wage of €8.65 per hour because they do not meet the minimum wage definition of experienced workers.

Delegates heard that thousands of employees are being paid just €277 or €312 for working 40 hours a week, which means they receive either €6.92 per hour or €7.79 per hour. USI president Hamidreza Khodabakhshi said there can be no justification for excluding thousands of adult workers from the expected minimum wage.

"To say that some adult workers are not properly 'experienced' is making a spurious distinction. An adult is an adult and all are equal before the law - or at least they ought to be."

USI equality officer Ryan Griffin said the current three-tier pay system was a "licence for employers to exploit young adult workers". He confirmed the students would take their case to end wage discrimination to Ministers.

Yesterday's USI congress also debated as to whether or not the morning-after pill should be made available as an over the counter drug. Mr Griffin said there was a strong division among students in relation to the matter.

"A lot of the arguments for making it available were along the lines of how it it can be difficult to get the morning-after pill over the weekend and that it is difficult to get an appointment with a doctor when there is a small window of opportunity, which can puts students in a difficult position.

"The counter argument was twofold. People said instead of voting to legalise it, we should try to promote safer sex rather than giving it as an over the counter option.

Mr Griffin added that people were concerned that if it were available over the counter, a pharmacist might not be able to give the level of detail and instruction a doctor would.

A motion on the topic saw a 50-50 split among the delegates, which under USI regulations, means the motion was defeated.

Another issue debated was the Lisbon Treaty, which Mr Khodabakhshi believes the majority of voters are not well-informed on. He said most people would probably vote based on what their preferred political party said.

"It seems that many people are basing their vote on allegiances to political parties but that is not good enough because there are pros and cons to both sides of the argument," he said.

A lively debate on the treaty took place during the conference, with chairman of the Irish Alliance for Europe, Ruairi Quinn, Green Party Senator Deirdre de Burca, Kieran Allen of the People Before Profit Alliance and Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Féin among the participants.