The Roll of Shame - the TDs who voted to Cut the Minimum Wage

The Roll of Shame

Davenport Hotel PicketWhen they cut the Minimum Wage, the outgoing Government claimed it would only affect people taking up a new job. The cut was opposed by unions who said it was part of a Government assault on wages. Unions said some employers would try and cut the wages of their existing staff.

Which is exactly what happened last week, when workers at Dublin's Davenport Hotel were told their wages were to be reduced from €8.65 an hour to €7.79 per hour. They were told they had to accept the cut to "support the Government." They refused.

Here's what Brian Lenihan TD, Minister for Finance said about the cut:

"I want to challenge the idea that persons already employed on the minimum wage will see their income drop automatically. Anyone already working under a contract of employment that sets wages at or above the national minimum wage is entitled to continue to be paid those wages unless otherwise agreed between both the employer and the employee concerned. The Government decided that the pay of the Taoiseach and Ministers should be cut again. When combined with the changes in taxation and PRSI in the budget, their pay will drop by an equivalent percentage amount, although by a vast or greater sum in cash figures, to the reduction applied to the minimum wage."

Here's what Minister for Labour Affairs Dara Callery TD said :

"The legal advice available to all of us, and confirmed to everyone in the House, is that an employee working under a contract of employment setting wages at or above the national minimum wage is already entitled under that contract to continue to be paid that wage unless the terms of the contract are altered by agreement between both the employer and employee."

Roll of Shame

All of these TDs voted to reduce the Minimum Wage. Candidates in the General Election are bolded.

Taoiseach Cowen, Brian (FF)