Marian Harkin calls for living wage and rights for precarious workers

Thank you, Ken Corlach. I am happy to speak in support of this private member's motion from the Social Democrats on the issue of decent work, workers' rights, inequality and precarious work. This motion highlights the structural problem of low pay in the Irish economy. Many people are not aware of the fact that Ireland has one of the most unequal distributions of market economy, sorry, of market income in the European Union. It is true to say that when our tax and welfare systems kick in as a safety net, then we have a more equal outcome. But our tax and social welfare systems should be focused on the provision of basic services for our citizens and on investment in our economy and social system, rather than propping up the very low wages of a significant sector of workers. And that's why this motion calls for a clear pathway to a living wage. It cannot be an issue for government, as they have already made this commitment in the programme for government. According to Social Justice Ireland, the at-risk of poverty rate in Ireland is 14%. But without our tax and social welfare system, that rate would be greater than 40%. Again, clearly illustrating the systemic issue of low pay. In fact, 110,000 people live below the poverty line, despite having a job. According to the OECD, Ireland has one of the highest rates of low paid employment in the OECD. Almost six times the rate in Belgium, and second highest only to the United States. According to the Labour Force Survey of National Minimum Wage Estimates for quarter four of 2019, there were 122,800 employees or workers on the minimum wage or less in quarter four of 2019. Now, many speakers have spoken about the fact that this motion calls on the government to make precisely the same commitments to workers in the Republic of Ireland as they have made to workers in Northern Ireland in the New Decade New Approach Agreement, which was reached in January of this year. Another important issue is the increasing casualisation of work. Now, this is driven partly by the unparalleled pace of change in production, in research, in development, in innovation. Disruption is the buzzword, but this disruption is literally having an extremely disruptive effect on workers and their employment. There's often no certainty, no anchor, less and less to stabilise people's working lives. How are workers supposed to plan? How do they know that they can pay their rent in six months' time or their mortgage in two years' time? How can they plan for their future or for their family's future? And in this, I agree with Deputy Louise O'Reilly when she said that precarious work destroys people's lives because it takes away your ability to plan. It undermines your hope for the future and it leaves you on a treadmill. And no matter how fast you are, you don't make any progress. Another issue is that today, our Labour legislation no longer covers the consequences of the huge changes that are taking place in the world of work. And that's why this motion calls for the right collective bargaining and representation in the workplace and why it recognises the lack of entitlement to basic protection such as sick pay and statutory leave for some of our workforce. Senator Elizabeth Warren coined the phrase, the gig economy. And as the numbers in the gig economy increase, workers' rights are eroded. And more and more holes appear in our basic safety net of employment. That safety net that helps to hold our societies together. Our focus should be, as this motion calls for, on creating good jobs and protecting workers' rights. The ILO has a phrase which covers a lot of what I believe in, and that refers to the phrase, decent work. Decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives. A plan where they can move forward, have security, plan for a family. Decent work delivers a living wage and provides security in the workplace and opportunities for people to participate in decisions that affect their working lives. We are always told that access to work and to employment is a way out of poverty. But this is not the case for a significant number of workers in Ireland. It's not mentioned in this motion, but flexible work, working from home, now needs to come within the remit of some type of labour legislation. And I'm sure that is something we will come back to again. This private motion is modest in what it asks for. It asks for a focus on the creation of good jobs, the protection of workers' rights. It calls for decent income, security of tenure and decent working conditions. And the setting up of a task force to help to deliver those modest aspirations. Other people have commented and use stronger language than me. But I am disappointed at the government amendment. Yes, it reiterates their commitment to delivering a living wage. And it assures us that the July Jobs Initiative and the National Economic Plan will support the creation of good quality jobs. I hope so. I really hope it does. But it minimises the legitimate concerns raised in this motion from the Social Democrats, especially on the issues of precarious work, casualisation of work and systemic low pay in the Irish economy. And on the real need to improve collective bargaining, again for those on low pay. If the government felt the need to amend this motion, and politically I understand why, it should have dealt with those issues in a decent and comprehensive way.