CONGRESS WELCOMES FORMAL RESTORATION OF MINIMUM WAGE

30 Jun 2011

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has welcomed the formal restoration of the €8.65 per hour National Minimum Wage rate, which comes into force on Friday, July 1.

The cut to the rate made by the previous coalition was vigorously opposed by Congress and campaign groups.

Welcoming therestoration, Congress General Secretary David Begg said the cut to the wage "had exposed some of the very worst of Irish business and politics, with the lowest paid people in the country effectively being made to carry the can for the greed and incompetence of senior bankers on multi-million wage and bonus packages.

"They advanced spurious arguments about the job creation bonanza that would flow from the cut and tried to justify it with hollow arguments about national competitiveness. None of the arguments withstood scrutiny. And yet, we hear the same arguments rehashed and recycled in the current campaign against the JLCs. Again, they are without substance or supporting evidence," Mr Begg said.

The then Fianna Fail/ Green coalition Government claimed that the reduced rate would only apply to new entrants to the workforce.

Congress warned that employers would try to cut the rates for existing workers and set up a helpline and support website to advise those affected by such moves.

Within weeks, five women employed in Dublin's Davenport Hotel were on strike when their employer cut their pay in line with the Minimum Wage Cut. The employer was later forced to rescind the cut and restore the five workers' previous rates of pay.