Gallagher faces picket unless due wages paid

WELL-KNOWN CHEF Conrad Gallagher has been given until Monday lunchtime to pay an ex-employee outstanding wages or face a protest outside his restaurant.

An intended protest outside Salon des Saveurs restaurant on Aungier Street, Dublin, was called off yesterday after Mr Gallagher gave an undertaking to pay Rishi Mohiputlall outstanding wages of €1,467.

The arrears amount to a month’s wages from the time Mr Mohiputlall, who is from Mauritius, worked in the restaurant between June and July of last year.

Yesterday’s protest was organised by the Restaurant and Catering Workers Forum, established by Siptu and the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, who agreed to call it off after Mr Gallagher promised to pay the money by cheque or bankers’ draft by Monday at 1pm.

Mr Mohiputlall said previous attempts to get paid ended in “false promises” and two bounced cheques. He also went to the Labour Relations Commission where Mr Gallagher, who made no appearance, was ordered to pay the money.

In a statement issued yesterday, Mr Gallagher said the matter was only drawn to his attention yesterday. “We immediately agreed to resolve the matter via his union and have apologised for any inconvenience, which was inadvertent and unintended,” he said.

He added it was a “company and personal principle that all staff are fully paid for work done”.