Working lives… insecurity and redundancy February 4, 2016

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized

The second last day of the Dáil and Joan Collins raised an issue of considerable concern and was met with – evasion.

Independent TD Joan Collins clashed with Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton in a row over contracts of employment for 530 Xtra-vision employees, 1,000 Tesco workers and employees contracted as ESB meter readers for the past 50 years.

Calling for directors who create such shelf companies to be barred for life from ever being a company director again, Ms Collins said the State will have to pick up the bill for Xtra-vision workers who have been left “high and dry”, because the company had done the same as Clerys, Connolly’s Shoes, Paris Bakery and La Senza.

And she said:

Increasing numbers of “rogue employers” are behaving like the owners of Clerys department store by setting up shelf companies and leaving workers with only statutory redundancy.

Richard Bruton’s response was a ‘staunch defense’ :

[of] the Government’s record on worker protection, including two minimum wage increases, protection for temporary agency workers, the restoration of employment regulation orders and agreements, and the introduction of collective bargaining legislation.

And gave this particularly excellent example of deliberately missing the point:

Mr Bruton acknowledged “there are sectors that still face challenges” including the video sector which had had “real problems”.

But he stressed that protections were in place both in employment law and the insolvency and redundancy funds to meet those needs.

Except, except Xtravision workers won’t get any more than statutory, and as Collins noted Tesco workers were told their contracts would be ripped up – and if they hadn’t been unionised…

In other words the protections are painfully inadequate. If you’ve time it’s well worth going back through Dáil debates from this last five years on worker protection and reading the mealy-mouthed and at times outright antagonism to the very concept of same from FG TDs – and others by the by (some FFers didn’t distinguish themselves in their over attachment to market ‘flexibility’ etc).

And as for working lives? What of this from last week?

Operators answering Ireland’s 999 calls will have to ask for management permission to use the toilet under a new policy introduced at Conduit Global, which operates the emergency call service.

And:

E

very worker is also prohibited from using the toilet for an hour of each working day.

In addition, no toilet break can exceed seven minutes in duration, to a maximum of 19 minutes per 12-hour shift.

If a worker needs more time, they must seek specific permission from line management and breaches can give rise to what the union described as “severe disciplinary action”.

Then there’s the wage structure there:

…management sources noted that every operator in Conduit working on the ECAS – including CWU members – received a 10% pay rise in November 2015, backdated to July 2014.

They noted that the 10% increase also applied at additional allowances and bonuses, including night and weekend allowances, linguist remuneration, and if they were lead operators.

They also noted that there is an additional 10% bonus when Conduit operators hit their quality targets.

They claimed when those rates were combined, the staff were earning more than the living wage of €11.50 an hour sought by the union.

Erm… let’s get that right. If they hit certain targets and combine various elements they get more! If?

Thankfully there’s a union involved. But here’s another aspect on this tale:

In 2009, the contract for the Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) was awarded to BT Ireland, who then outsourced it to Conduit Global.

I find this approach puzzling. Why award a contract to a body that then outsources the service?