Migrant Workers

national | worker & community struggles and protests | press release Wednesday January 04, 2006 17:24 by Joe Higgins T.D. - Socialist Party

Labour Leader and SIPTU President Pointing in Completely Wrong Direction

Key is Militant Trade Union Strategy to Flush Out Cheap Labour Employers Rather Than EU Work Permits

The Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte’s assertion that work permits for workers from certain E.U. States might need to be looked at in future has been supported by Mr. Jack O’ Connor, President of SIPTU.

Both the Labour Party leader and SIPTU President are pointing in a completely wrong direction.

There is exploitation of migrant labour in this State and there is a persistent strategy in some industries to undercut trade union rates of pay by abusing the availability of workers from Eastern Europe.

The answer is not to raise a call for work permits, which give further powers to bosses to exploit. The answer is for the trade union movement to launch a militant strategy to flush out cheap labour employers.

This would involve considerable resources in terms of personnel, time and industrial action to isolate industrialists who seek to undercut trade union rates of pay. It would pro-actively recruit the tens of thousands of migrant workers into the trade union movement. It would make this State a no go area for cheap labour bosses and exploitative practices.

It is clear from the magnificent turnout of working people in opposition to Irish Ferries’ “slave labour” strategy on December 9th, that workers in this State, both Irish born and migrant, would strongly support such an approach.