THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions is to seek a meeting with the new government to discuss the speedy introduction of equality legislation.
The general secretary of the ICTU, Mr Peter Cassells, gave the undertaking yesterday at the introduction of a Code of Practice on Preventing Racism in the Workplace. The code has been agreed in consultation with the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation.
Mr Cassells was responding to a question from Mr Thomas McCann of the Irish Travellers' Movement who said travellers were largely "excluded from the workplace and marginalised because of where we come from, and who we are". He said the code should have legal sanctions and he wanted the social partners to call on the new government to reintroduce the Equal Employment Bill and Equal Status Bill. Both Bills have been found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
"As soon as the Supreme Court found the first Bill to be unconstitutional we said amended legislation should be brought in very quickly," Mr Cassells said. "Who ever is the minister made responsible for equality and law reform, we will be looking for an immediate meeting with them to get the legislation off the back burner".
The chief executive of the Employment Equality Agency, Ms Carmel Foley, said she hoped the delay in introducing amended legislation would be a short one. At the same time she congratulated the ICTU and IBEC on introducing their own voluntary code.
IBEC's director of industrial relations, Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, said the code was aimed at preventing racism becoming established in the work place. There were sound economic reasons for promoting harmony in the workplace.
Copies of the code can be obtained from the ICTU or IBEC. It was drawn up by ICTU's youth officer, Mr Liam Bernie and IBEC's director of social affairs, Ms Aileen Donoghue.
In a separate development Mr Michael Collins of Pavee Point, who attended the introduction of the equality code, rejected claims by the Romanian ambassador to Ireland, Ms Elena Zamfirescu, that there was no political persecution in her country and asylum seekers were economic refugees. Mr Collins said most Romanian asylum seekers here were gypsies who suffered persecution as an ethnic minority.
. The hostile response in Ireland to refugees and asylum seekers is creating a bad impression in the foreign press, according to a newsletter issued by the national committee coordinating the European Year Against Racism.