Workers in the fast food industry held a protest in Dublin today over what they claim are attempts to cut wages in the sector.
The Restaurant Workers Action Group staged a protest outside Supermac’s restaurant on O’Connell Street.
Supermac’s is part of the Quick Service Food Alliance, an industry group mounting a legal challenge to the JLC (Joint Labour Committee) system which sets wages for the restaurant industry.
The workers’ group, which was established by the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) said that although Supermac’s saw its pre-tax profits quadruple last year, “it is joining other restaurants in challenging wage protections for its workers”.
“Restaurant owners and industry groups have been calling for the reduction of worker protections, including a €1 per hour cut in the national minimum wage; a weakening of the standards laid out in the JLC; and a challenge to the right of the JLC to determine working conditions,” it said in a statement.
Gul Gencoglu, a restaurant worker in Naas, Co Kildare, said that if her wages were cut, she would not be able to pay her rent.
“I would have no choice but to turn to social welfare for assistance. This is not what I want. I want to work. I want to have decent conditions. I don’t want anything more than that.”
Director of MRCI Siobháin O’Donoghue said the organisation had heard from hundreds of restaurant workers reporting unfair treatment and conditions of exploitation over the years.
The organisation called on Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan to take “immediate action to defend the wages of the lowest-paid workers from further attacks and cuts”.
In a statement, the Quick Service Food Alliance said it was taking a High Court constitutional challenge to the rights of the Catering Joint Labour Committee and the Labour Court to effectively set minimum rates of pay and employment conditions for workers in the catering industry.
“This case is not about lowering conditions of employment, but challenging the method by which those rates and conditions are set, which is unfair, arbitrary and unconstitutional in the present format,” it said.
"There are already numerous pieces of legislation, enacted by the Oireachtas, the rightful law-making institution in Ireland, setting out minimum conditions of pay and employment to protect employees".
It said businesses and workers had been hit hard due to the economic crisis, but it claimed the “arbitrary” JLC system was one of the factors that had led to job losses and the reduction in working hours.
“Our members’ employees come from many different countries, and they would like to emphasise their equal and fair treatment of all employees and commitment to this end".
It said its members were "committed to fair pay and conditions for all workers but are also committed to fairness and transparency in how minimum rates and conditions are set which ultimately keeps businesses viable and thereby protects jobs".
The QFSA represents businesses such as McDonalds, Burger King, Abrakebabra, Supermac’s and also independently run coffee shops, restaurants and sandwich bars the country.
MRCI is a national advocacy organisation representing migrant workers and their families.