Sir, – I completely agree with Marlene McCormack’s letter on the creche staffing crisis (Letters, May 13th). I would like to propose one solution to her question of why these workers’ pay and conditions remain so poor. It’s unions, or in this case, a lack of them.
Today, I dropped off my son to his creche. I do this every morning and, suffice to say, every morning I put my total faith in the creche staff to look after the most precious thing in the world. Their pay and conditions, however, are nowhere near aligned with the importance and difficulty of what they do.
Creche workers deserve to be paid 10 times their salaries. I don’t know how they do their job. They have one of the most responsible and important roles in all of society. The wider economy depends on them.
This workforce is fragmented, however, with numerous small employers and many workers coming from overseas. Compared to other key public services like teaching, nursing and transport, union density is low.
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History tells us that workers’ rights are not protected by themselves. Pay and benefits don’t drop from the sky like manna from heaven. They are fought for. Unions do this.
That is at least part of the answer to McCormack’s salient question, as to why the creche employers have not yet sat down to talk. Poor pay and high turnover of creche workers is a major issue, with ramifications for all of society. The solution is to organise. – Yours, etc,
Dr DOMHNALL McGLACKEN-BYRNE,
Inchicore,
Dublin 8.
