Gama workers accept Labour Court recommendations

Striking workers at Gama Construction have accepted a recommendation issued by the Labour Court this afternoon which would see…

Striking workers at Gama Construction have accepted a recommendation issued by the Labour Court this afternoon which would see them paid €8,000 per year of service.

The workers were meeting at Liberty Hall in Dublin to consider the three-page recommendation.

In a statement, Gama Endustri said it was "seriously considering" the recommendations of the Labour Court.

"The company is seeking clarification from the Court on the recommendations and once it receives this will revert to the Court and the unions."

The payments recommended by the Labour Court represent alleged underpayments of overtime and the Labour Court said the payments will be in full and final discharge of the workers' claims for overtime.

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Employees would, under the recommendations, receive between €2,000 and €13,000 depending on the length of their service.

The Labour Court also awarded the workers an ex gratia payment of one month's salary on completion of their contracts in Ireland.

Siptu's national industrial secretary said the workers had "accepted pragmatism over justice" in voting for the settlement.

"The terms of the recommendation - a lump sum equal to EUR8,000 per year of service in respect of lost overtime - represent a pragmatic solution for the workers to bring an end to their fight for justice in the most extreme circumstances - far from their homeland and with the added difficulty of trying to communicate in a foreign language," he said.

"They fought for justice but were obliged to settle for pragmatism because the State - despite all the labour legislation we have - could not vindicate their right to the outstanding monies they earned for working up to 80 hours a week."

Mr Dowling said that for "real justice" the Turkish workers would have to face the prospect of waiting for up to 18 months or more while their individual claims were processed through the Labour Court or the Circuit Court.

"If any lessons are to be learned from this unprecedented dispute they are that the Government must introduce protection for migrant workers which will guarantee their rights while they are still in this country and free to tell their story. In the case of Gama, the State has failed the workers."

Mr Dowling said the Government should immediately review the role played by professional advisors to companies such as Gama because, over the course of two investigations by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, auditors, solicitors and PR consultants had failed to notice anything amiss.