Working Travellers 'forced to deny their identity'

Denying their identity is "the norm" for many Travellers who take mainstream jobs, according to a report presented to the ICTU conference yesterday.

Travellers interviewed for the report said their personal experience of job interviews was that, once it became known they were members of the Travelling community, this became the deciding factor at the interview.

Some reported instances of employers refusing to interview them but also declining to sign forms confirming to the Department of Social and Family Affairs that they had sought employment.

The report, The Same Right - The Same Obligation, was based on the findings of an ICTU task force on anti-racism on the workplace. Details were outlined to the conference by its author, Dr Marie Clarke of the Irish Federation of University Teachers.

The experiences of Travellers were recorded in focus group interviews at the Pavee Point Traveller Centre in Dublin. Participants who said they, or relatives, had worked for periods without disclosing they were Travellers had experienced a very negative reaction from colleagues when their ethnic backgrounds became known.

A number of negative effects ensued for Travellers who felt forced to deny their identity in the mainstream labour force, according to those interviewed for the report.

It created great strain on Traveller employees who were constantly watching what they said in case it became known they were Travellers; some found themselves having to collude in racism or walk away when anti-Traveller comments were made; there was also a constant fear on the part of some that another Traveller might enter the workplace and acknowledge them.

"Participants [in the interviews] stated that this causes a lot of guilt and embarrassment within the individual as they are forced to deny friends and members of their own community," said the report.

Interviewees also talked of obstacles to their entering the workforce in the first place. One woman spoke of her daughter's very recent experience of looking for work in a leading supermarket, where she was directed to a supervisor, who asked if she was a Traveller.

When told that she was, the supervisor said it was the policy of the company not to employ Travellers.

The supervisor, added the report, then said that customers would not buy fresh bread if "the likes of you" handled it. "The Traveller woman then asked the supervisor to sign a form for Social Welfare confirming that she had requested employment. The supervisor refused."