Well done to Mandate members for forcing government to publish legislation

Mandate Trade Union has today (Tuesday, 13^th February 2018) cautiously welcomed the publication of the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017 but says “significant amendments are needed if it is to address concerns of low hour contract workers.”

The aim of the Bill is to stop the exploitation of low hour contract workers and to allow all workers security over their hours and their incomes.

Brian Forbes, Mandate’s National Coordinator for Campaigns said: “Mandate members all across the country should feel very proud, particularly Dunnes Stores workers who started this debate when they took industrial action back in 2015. Our members have forced the government to this point through their political lobbying and pressure on TD’s all across the country.

He added, “While this draft of the Bill doesn’t go far enough, we now know exactly what flaws the Bill has and what amendments are needed.”

Mandate and the Decency for Dunnes Workers campaign have been calling on all TD’s to sign the Secure Hours = Better Future charter – which sets out the minimum standards needed in any legislation in order to ensure workers have secure hours and incomes.

The charter has six key demands, and to date, dozens of TD’s from all political parties have signed up to its demands.

Mr Forbes said: “On the day of the Dunnes Stores strike almost three years ago, all parties turned up to the picket lines. All TD’s – including the Taoiseach – stood up in the Dail and said they supported the Dunnes Stores workers in their quest for decency at work. Now, after too long of a delay, we are starting to see the finishing post and it’s important that we keep the pressure on.”

Mandate will be continuing to lobby TD’s across the country and if you would like to join one of the local lobbying teams, contact bforbes@mandate.ie

Earlier this month the Irish government published draft legislation that has the potential to protect vulnerable low hour workers against exploitation by their employers.

The legislation itself isn’t perfect, and needs amendments to make it fit for purpose, but it is a small step towards improving employment standards, particularly in sectors where employers don’t necessarily treat their workers with the respect and dignity they deserve – including retail, bars, restaurants, academia and health, among other industries.

For best part of a decade Dunnes Stores workers and other retail and bar workers have been banging on Mandate’s door explaining how their hours are being arbitrarily cut, leading to a massive loss in income.

Members would often tell us how their employer is using low hour contracts to ensure they were kept compliant.

“When I complained about a fire exit being blocked by stacked pallets,” explained one member, “my manager told me I was being cut from 40 hours per week to 10 hours for six months.”

He added, “That meant I was down three quarters of my wage, more than €300 per week.”

There is nothing illegal in this. The workers’ contract states 10 hours as a minimum, so the manager has full discretion to cut it to the minimum with no recourse for the member.

To make matters worse for low hour and low paid workers, this cut can mean losing their entitlement to Family Income Supplement (FIS) because you need to work a minimum of 19 hours per week for three months in order to be eligible. If the employer spreads the hours over a number of days, the worker can also lose access to part-time social welfare because this is done on a day-to-day basis.

They can effectively manage you out of your job by ensuring you cannot feed and clothe your family or put a roof over your head. This is the disproportionate power an employer can have over their workers.

For three years now Mandate Trade Union has been lobbying to change legislation in order to outlaw this behaviour.

In 2015, Dunnes Stores workers went on strike to highlight these types of contracts.

 

Almost all political parties in the state joined the workers on the picket lines and the then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, expressed his support for the workers in the Dail when he said:

“I support the workers in their right to have clarity about their working lives. Therefore, the message to the employers is that this can be sorted out. These workers are loyal workers. They provide services every day of the week on a 24-hour basis. That should be recognised.”

Opposition leader Michael Martin (Fianna Fail) visited the St Stephens Green picket line and said:

“I endeavour to get the full Oireachtas behind the [Dunnes Stores] workers, in the name of common decency, and in the name of basic rights that these workers are entitled to.”

Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein Leader also expressed his party’s support:

“They [Dunnes Stores workers], and the 129,000 low-paid workers in this state, deserve certainty about their hours of work and income. They deserve secure jobs and they should get fair pay. And their right to trade union representation should be respected.”

Ruth Coppinger, from the Solidarity/PBP said:

“The Anti-Austerity Alliance and the Socialist Party fully support the strike action taken by Dunnes Stores workers across the country today. We are calling on people to support this important strike by not passing the pickets today and to stand in solidarity with the workers.”

Clare Daly, Independents4Change also put on the record her support:

“It is vital for all workers in Ireland that the Dunnes workers win this battle. Employers in this country need to be sent a clear message that we will not tolerate these unscrupulous work practices.”

So with all this political support, it’s hard to understand why two and a half years later, we still don’t have legislation protecting low hour workers from exploitation.

Sinn Fein’s David Cullinane tabled a piece of legislation in June 2016 which would have given the Dunnes workers and others the security of income and hours that they needed. This was delayed by Fianna Fail by 12 months, entered the Joint Oireachtas Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, but has now been put into purgatory by the Ceann Coimhairle for political reasons.

The Labour Party tabled a Bill in the Seanad which was unanimously passed, but hasn’t progressed further.

But now the Government has published its own Bill, which is welcome, but it has a number of weaknesses.

The two key flaws are the lookback period of 18 months and the width of the bands of hours.

The University of Limerick report, which was commissioned by the government, is adamant that a six month look-back period should apply. The cross-party Joint Oireachtas Committee, as a compromise, stated that 12 months should apply. But now the government is saying that a worker cannot get security over their hours for at least 18 months. This is simply too long and will facilitate exploitation.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee also recommended that the gap between bands should be no greater than 5 hours. This would allow a level of flexibility for the employer, but crucially, some security of income for the employee. The Government’s Bill has much wider bands with one band being 11-24 hours. This means an employer could still effectively cut a workers’ income by 54 percent.

That’s why Mandate members are out in force lobbying their local TD’s. They are calling on all TD’s to support Mandate’s Secure Hours = Better Future Charter which has six key demands.

Dunnes Stores, Dealz, Supervalu and Tesco workers among others have been visiting their local TD’s and asking them to sign the Charter. They’ve been explaining how important this is for low hour contract workers.

Lorna Dempsey, Mandate member and low hour contracts worker in Dealz in Dundrum said:

“We’ve been visiting TD’s in our constituency and asking them to support low hour contract workers. We explained to Catherine Martin TD from the Green Party that there are 1,200 Mandate members in her constituency, and each of them has family and friends who feel strongly about this issue.”

Ms Dempsey continued, “To be fair, I don’t think Deputy Martin realised the extent of these contracts and how difficult it can be to live on one of them.”

“They affect your mental health. You don’t know from week-to-week what your income is going to be so you don’t know if you’ll be able to pay your bills or feed your children.”

Ms Dempsey also explained to Deputy Martin how tackling these contracts would be good for the state.

“There are rogue employers out there who are abusing the system. Local managers can pick their friends to receive more hours and cut the hours of people they don’t like. This forces a lot of workers onto social welfare to receive top-up payment benefits – despite the fact many employers are making millions in profits. Why should the government have to pay top-up benefits when the employer can easily afford to pay the workers a decent wage?”

She added, “If companies like Tesco, Penneys, Supervalu and Marks & Spencer can give their workers security of income through banded hour’s structures negotiated with their workers’ union, then all retail outlets can.”

Ms Dempsey concluded by saying her local group will be meeting with Minister Shane Ross early in the new year to continue their lobbying campaign and demand that all TD’s support the Secure Hours = Decent Future campaign.

Mandate has now called on all members to lobby their local TD’s to ensure they sign up to the demands of the Secure Hours = Better Future charter.

Together we can make sure all workers have security over their incomes.

If you would like to join one of the local lobbying teams as they visit TD’s across the country, please email bforbes@mandate.ie or contact your local Mandate official.

13th December 2017
To: All Mandate Members
From: John Douglas, General Secretary

Well done and congratulations to Mandate members regarding the publication last week of a government Bill which sets out a legally enforceable mechanism for greater security of working hours (banded hours). See link to Bill here.

The publication of this Bill is in no small part attributable to the ongoing campaigning by so many of our members – particularly in Dunnes Stores – towards securing legislation to protect workers affected by insecure hours contracts.

Whilst we celebrate the publication of this legislation, there is still much work to be done to get it passed by the Oireachtas and to influence certain amendments to improve on it. Two major changes we are seeking are:

• Reduce the proposed hourly bands proposed to a maximum width of 5 hours
• Shorten the ‘look back’ period for calculating average weekly hours to 12 months or less.

We must continue to scale up our lobbying efforts to make this happen. Please make every effort to contact your local TD’s and Senators by calling at their local constituency offices or clinics, phoning them or emailing them. And if you have not done so already sign the online petition here.

If you have any queries about the proposed legislation please contact your local Mandate office.

Click Here To Sign Petition: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/secure-hours-now

Retail workers call on TD’s and Senators to end insecure work. Please help vulnerable workers by signing the petition.

By signing the petition you will be sending a clear message to TD’s and Senators, who are elected to legislate on behalf of the people, that they must act now to put an end to exploitative and insecure employment practices. Future legislation to end zero hours and “if and when” employment must be comprehensive, robust and protect workers in precarious employment.

Click Here To Sign Petition: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/secure-hours-now

“Secure Hours – Better Future”

Mandate Trade Union members today (Tuesday, 14th November 2017) called on all TD’s to sign the “Secure Hours – Better Future” charter which would end zero hours and ‘If and When’ contracts.

The Union said Dunnes Stores workers, along with tens of thousands of others, do not know from week-to-week what hours and income they will have.

John Douglas, Mandate Trade Union General Secretary said:

“We know that 85 percent of all Dunnes Stores workers say that hours are used as a method of control over them. If they lodge a grievance, make a complaint or even join a Union, there is the potential to have your hours and income slashed from €400 per week to €160 per week. This can create huge problems in terms of paying essential bills or obtaining loans or mortgages.”

Mr Douglas said retail workers are concerned that the forthcoming government Bill will contain loopholes to allow employers avoid giving their workers security over their hours.

“Sinn Fein have a Bill, the Labour Party have a Bill and now the government is drafting its own Bill,” said Mr Douglas. “We need action on this now, but we need to make sure that the government Bill does what it’s supposed to do, give workers security over their incomes.”

The Banded Hours Contracts Bill, moved by Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane, has already progressed through the Dail and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The Joint Oireachtas Committee made 23 recommendations but the Ceann Comhairle’s office attached a “money message” to the Bill, meaning it cannot progress any further without the agreement of the government.

“We’re very concerned that the government will water down the good work that has already taken place in the Oireachtas. The Joint Oireachtas Committee has already heard from all relevant parties; employers’ groups; trade unions; legal experts; academics and more. What’s needed now is action,” said Mr Douglas.

He added, “There’s no point bringing in bad legislation which will not achieve the minimum standards set out in our Secure Hours – Better Future charter. Anything less than this will not serve the needs of low paid and low hour contract workers so we are asking all TD’s from all political parties to sign this charter and ensure our most vulnerable workers are protected.”

Dr Caroline Murphy, Lecturer in Employment Relations & Dr Juliet McMahon, Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, who were co-authors of the University of Limerick Report: “A Study on the Prevalence of Zero Hours Contracts among Irish Employers and their Impact on Employees,” addressed the launch of the Secure Hours – Better Future charter stating:

“The University of Limerick Report on Zero hours Work in Ireland conducted in 2015 established that “if and when” forms of working arrangements have significant negative implications for individuals including: apprehension related to the unpredictability of working hours (in terms of number of hours and scheduling), unstable income, difficulties in accessing finance and welfare benefits, and difficulties in managing work and family life. The report found instances where employment contracts do not accurately reflect the reality of the number of hours regularly worked by individuals.

“The report noted concerns that workers on such arrangements report having insufficient notice of working hours and being sent home from work if not required, and a belief that they may be penalised by their employer for not accepting work when offered.

“The report emphasised the lack of clarity regarding the employment status of individuals working under this type of arrangement.

“Legislative/regulatory reforms are required in order to bring clarity to this matter and furthermore to address the negative implications for workers. Approaching 2018, a number of Bills have emerged but concrete changes have yet to be established.”

Secure Hours = Better Future Charter

1. Ban Zero Hour Practices – including exploitative “If and When” contracts.
2. Provide workers with secure hour contracts that reflect the reality of the average weekly hours worked.
3. Ensure a maximum ‘look-back’ period of 12 months or less to calculate the average weekly hours and the subsequent ‘band of hours’* into which a worker is placed.
4. Ensure the maximum width of all ‘band of hours’ is no greater than 5 hours per week
5. Protect workers from victimisation for enforcing their rights under this legislation.
6. Ensure legislation is implemented so that current workers can avail of its provisions for hours already completed.

*A band of hours provides a level of flexibility for employers but crucially a level of certainty over income for a worker. For instance, they will work between 20-25 hours or 30-35 hours, with no ceiling but a floor of hours which the worker cannot drop below.

This week in the Oireachtas workers on insecure hour contracts became collateral damage in a cynical game of power play politics by the government. A disgraceful ploy to block the David Cullinane TD sponsored Banded Hours Contract Bill was concocted by raising a spurious money message mechanism which government conveniently uses to halt the progress of opposition bills that have a genuine chance of succeeding in the Dail.

It seems almost irrelevant to the government that in halting the progress of this important piece of legislation many workers on precarious and insecure contracts who are struggling day and daily to plan their lives and to pay their bills will be the losers by this insidious government political chicanery.

Over the past 18 months Sinn Fein worked closely with Mandate on developing the Banded Hours Contract Bill to allow workers achieve some security in their income and their hours.

The Bill was passed by the Dail at Second Stage on 17^th July 2016, with a deferral for 12 months pending legislative scrutiny in the Jobs Committee. This committee heard from over 40 witnesses – including Mandate, ICTU, IBEC and academics – and it produced a 52 page report with 21 recommendations on strengthening and improving the legislation.

David Cullinane TD, the original mover of the Bill, told the committee that he was happy to see all those recommendations incorporated into the Bill. Subsequently, on the 20^th September 2017 the Business Committee agreed to allow the Bill to return to committee for amendments. Given the intense scrutiny applied to this Bill over a protracted period and its broad cross-party support, pending the amendments, on the Jobs Committee chaired by Mary Burke FF TD, it is truly incredible that all this time, effort and excellent work can be destroyed at the stroke of a pen by government mandarins intent on denying opposition parties from having good protective legislation enacted.

In April 2015 Dunnes Stores workers took industrial action to achieve income security in their employment. They want and need Banded Hour contracts which would allow them the ability to better plan their lives. This Bill took on much greater urgency for workers when the Labour Court agreed to suspend a case between Mandate and Dunnes Stores for a period of six months pending the passing of the Bill as its incorporation into law would settle the issues raised by the case.

This six month hiatus ends in February 2018 and the government hatchet job imposed now on this important Bill means that the likelihood of getting any decent legislation to protect workers enacted before that date is looking increasingly unlikely. Given the time-sensitive nature of the suspended Labour Court case it almost defies belief that the government would put its own narrow political self-interest above that of low paid workers in precarious type employment. Shame on them for doing so.

David Cullinane TD sought leave to refer the bill to committee for implementation, which was granted by the Dail on 3^rd October 2017, but the “money message” barrier was dropped on the Bill afterwards. The ridiculous reason given for delaying this Bill was that it would increase the workload of the Workplace Relations Committee thus requiring additional resources. Government Bills with a money message can be turned around in less than three weeks but opposition Bills do not receive any attention whatsoever. In fact, every single opposition Bill passed at second stage by the Dail this year is still awaiting developments on the money message issue.

If this Bill was about bailing out a failing bank or to help the government refuse to accept billions from their friends in multi-national companies who aren’t paying their fair share of this country’s tax burden then the legislation would be delivered wrapped in a gold bow in the morning. The fact that this Bill was trying to assist workers on low hour contracts to achieve a fairer deal from their employer would appear largely irrelevant to the government and their faceless and nameless bureaucrats who assist them in regularly screwing workers in favour of profitable businesses.

Workers on low hour contracts cannot get a mortgage. They cannot adequately plan their lives as they live in limbo with uncertain hours. They cannot guarantee they will be able to pay their bills from week to week and must make stark choices on what they can purchase with the little money they have at their disposal. These workers needed urgent action and the genuine concern is that the government recent promise by Minister Regina Doherty to deliver soon on banded hour contracts will be a much more watered down and frankly useless piece of legislation that will further enslave these downtrodden and forgotten workers who deserve much better from their government.

Mandate has serious reservations that the governments intended Banded Hours Legislation will either now be delayed with the absence of the Sinn Fein Bill or that it will be an ineffective and dangerous piece of legislation that doesn’t protect workers whatsoever. We have concerns that the government will not implement strong and robust legislation because the Heads of Bill produced so far indicate a real lack of understanding about the predicament many of these workers face. Minister Regina Doherty’s recent public utterances also indicate no intention whatsoever of banning zero hour contracts and “if and when” contracts. That is a national disgrace and we will not stand idly by and allow that to happen unchallenged.

The Sinn Fein Bill is a strong, well balanced and highly scrutinised piece of legislation that deserves to be adopted and made into law. Unfortunately, good and sound legislation is not a major priority for this government based on their actions. Sinn Fein, and in particular David Cullinane TD and Conor McCabe Parliamentary Advisor, are to be commended for their dedicated and hard work over the past 18 months towards developing legislation that would actually do something to protect vulnerable workers.

Mandate will continue to campaign vigorously and lobby intensively over the coming weeks and months to challenge any attempt by government to implement weak and bad legislation. Any watered down alternative to the Sinn Fein Bill will be challenged robustly by our members and we will support them with everything at our disposal. We are committed to the principles of Decent Work and refuse to accept anything less. Mandate’s Decent Work campaign roadshow will be coming to a venue near you over the coming months so make it your business to get along to hear about what’s really happening in Irish society today and join collectively with many other like-minded workers in fighting back and delivering a better Ireland.

www.joinmandate.ie