Richest men challenging overtime pay, ULA claims

SOME OF Ireland’s richest men are challenging overtime payments and Sunday premiums, the United Left Alliance (ULA) has claimed, as Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton insisted his proposed reforms of wage agreements were about achieving a “balance”.

Opening a Dáil Private Members’ debate challenging the Minister’s proposals to reform wage agreements in a number of sectors, Socialist Party TD Clare Daly said the reforms would affect more than 250,000 workers.

She said “53 per cent of restaurant workers earned less than the minimum wage and 85 per cent did not get overtime pay or Sunday premium”.

The United Left Alliance also challenged the Labour Party, accusing it of “hiding behind the Minister”.

“Everybody has a vote on this issue and it’s very simple. If you’re against the attack on wages of the lowest paid you’ll support this motion,” Ms Daly said.

However, Labour TD Colm Keaveney, one of just four party TDs in the chamber for the debate, hit out at the alliance, pointing to its vote against the reversal of the minimum wage.

He said that, “unlike the United Left Alliance, the Labour Party can’t afford to live in a constant revolution. We have to deal with the reality of the situation.”

He believed that “cutting wages would not do anything for job creation” but he understood the position the Minister had been put in by the previous government.

He said a decision on the agreements would have to be by the entire Cabinet.

Ms Daly said two of Ireland’s richest men were “leading the charge” in legally challenging the agreements. She said the founder of the Quick Service Food Alliance, owner of Supermacs Pat McDonagh, was legally challenging the JLCs.

“Pat has managed to leap up to position 68 on Ireland’s rich list, up from 139 in 2009. He has managed to increase his profits despite a fall in revenue” and was “already making a fortune off the backs of his workers”.

She also cited businessman John Magnier, “with a personal wealth of almost €600 million, huge subsidies from this State in terms of his training industry, a tax exile who again is bringing low-paid agricultural workers earning €9.10 an hour to the courts because he feels their wage demands are excessive. The real agenda here is greed.”

Mr Bruton insisted they had to strike a balance between regulating detailed arrangements governing the working conditions of individuals and creating employment opportunities.

The Government had already reversed the cuts in the minimum wage and he insisted that after the collapse in demand that had occurred, “people are having to scrabble and scrounge to keep businesses alive. We can’t pretend that competitiveness does not matter,” Mr Bruton said.