GAMA Report Gag

national | worker & community struggles and protests | press release

Wednesday June 15, 2005 12:18

by Joe Higgins T.D. - Socialist Party

High Court rules that exploitative companies can hide behind inadequate legislation on workers’ rights

Current laws and court procedures heavily favour bosses over exploited workers

The refusal of the High Court yesterday to allow the Labour Inspectorate to publish its report into exploitation by GAMA Construction of its Turkish workforce, amounts to the outrageous situation whereby companies that ruthlessly exploit their workers can hide behind the laws and courts of the land. If it were to depend on current legislation and the High Court, GAMA’s regime of extreme exploitation would never have been brought to light and no justice would be won for the workers who suffered exploitation.

It is quite clear now that current labour law is utterly inadequate in defending the rights of vulnerable workers whether they are Irish or migrant workers.

There is no mechanism in Irish law by which vulnerable workers can speedily have a hearing of their complaints of exploitation and a vindication of their rights. Low paid Irish or migrant workers simply cannot compete with the wealth of their employers in resorting to the courts.

In the case of GAMA, fortunately, we were able to prove conclusively the extent of worker exploitation in that company. The tens of millions of euro which were found hidden in Finansbank Holland in Amsterdam and the Labour Court settlement by which GAMA agreed to pay workers €8,000 overtime in respect of each year worked, effectively proved the point. Most of all, the brave strike action undertaken for an eight- week period by the Turkish workers, showed the world what they had suffered at the hands of this multinational.

The best defence by workers whether Irish or migrant against exploitation is a strong and active trade union movement. The need for this is particularly acute now with the use by employers of Eastern European workers in an attempt to undercut trade union rates of pay and conditions in this state. The trade unions themselves have many lessons to learn from the GAMA experience. What it poses most strongly is that the unions need to proactively engage with migrant workers, recruit them to the unions and ensure that they can make common cause with their fellow Irish workers.

However, the law must also be changed. Obviously, the Labour Inspectorate and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment should be enabled to publish reports of their investigations into exploitation. But much more is needed.

The Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court are not places where workers can get justice when their employers resist. A mechanism needs to be put in place urgently, by which workers who are being exploited can seek immediate redress, get an immediate hearing and get immediate action by the state. This is in contrast to the present position where it can take years for workers’ complaints to wind their way tortuously through the courts.

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Higgins challenges Harney over workers' rights

by Dáil watcher

Wed Jun 15, 2005 15:55

Dáil Éireann; Leaders’ Questions; 15th June 2005

Joe Higgins (Socialist Party): Recent months have shown labour laws to be pathetically inadequate in vindicating the rights and entitlements of workers in this State. Incredibly yesterday, the High Court said the law prohibits the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from publishing the report of the labour inspectorate into the vicious regime of exploitation by Gama Construction on its sites. Is the Tánaiste incredulous that the labour laws allow ruthless exploiters of workers, whether Irish or migrant workers, to hide behind the courts and the laws of this land in having shameful truths suppressed? It is now clear from not only this but from many examples that vulnerable workers suffering low pay and or oppressive working conditions have no hope of a speedy vindication of their rights from current laws, which favour ruthless bosses who can buy the most expensive lawyers in town, hired guns, and in the meantime intimidate, sack or otherwise silence employees seeking their rights. The industrial relations machinery is totally inadequate to deal with that. Workers are being increasingly forced to find other ways.
Workers at Global Mobile Vision, with serious allegations of wages paid late, harassment and bullying, approach the Independent section of the Technical Group, including Deputy Finian McGrath and myself, to try to expedite a solution.
A major multinational, General Electric, a partner of Gama, in Clonshaugh in north Dublin, sets up puppet companies so that it can set about a legal swindle to compel the IDA to pay it millions of euro for land belonging to the Irish people. It uses the proceeds of this sale to finance its industrial diamond innovations to force a redundancy deal on 50 workers, whom it bullies and pressurises into accepting, so it can replace them with cheap labour for its industrial diamond enterprises. What does the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Government do? They rubberstamp this shameful deal.
This neo-liberal jungle is heavily promoted by the Progressive Democrats and the Tánaiste but is inimical to workers. Will we have a speedy amendment to allow reports of shameful exploitation by the inspectors or otherwise to be published for the Irish people? More radically, will we have legislation providing a mechanism where ordinary workers can detail abuses they are suffering and enable them to get immediate redress, within a week or two, as speedily as the bosses can get their injunctions in the High Court for which they can well afford to pay? What is the Tánaiste's response to the urgent increasing need of Irish workers?

The Tánaiste: We all have to abide by the decisions of the court. The High Court made a decision yesterday in regard to the inspectors' report on Gama, but the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment had already circulated that report to all the relevant authorities, including the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Revenue Commissioners and many others.
As the Deputy is aware, labour law in Ireland applies to workers, whether they are Irish or foreign, in equal measure. Recently, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment greatly expanded the labour inspectorate. (Dáil watcher's note: when Harney was Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment she resisted all attempts to increase the number of Labour Inspectors). Therefore, it is not always a question of making more law but rather - similar to an earlier question - of enforcing existing laws. The Minister is certainly doing that.
In regard to GMV, I understand that matter is being investigated and I am aware it was the subject of an Adjournment debate here last evening.

J. Higgins: The labour inspectorate did an excellent job in trying to out the truth in the Gama affair. I am talking about the rights of all workers, Irish and migrant. The laws under which the labour inspectorate work are totally inadequate. The workers are chasing justice 12 or 18 months down the road in the courts. In the meantime they have been harassed, bullied and sack from their jobs by their employers. That is the position. Justice delayed in the case of vulnerable workers is justice denied.
There is a new situation that will be fraught for Irish workers. Eastern European subcontractors are increasingly being used by some bosses in the construction industry to undercut trade union rates of pay and conditions. The Tánaiste welcomed this as a champion of the neo-liberal jungle. She wants workers' wages to be undercut and their conditions to be downgraded. The trade unions should have none of that and should launch a major drive to integrate migrant and Irish workers to defend trade union rates of pay and conditions. However, at the same time we need to force the Government to amend the legislation to provide immediate justice. Just as quickly as a boss can go into the High Court with €10,000 and get an injunction prohibiting workers from seeking their rights, we need such mechanisms that are amenable to Irish workers and all other workers here to secure justice. What is the Tánaiste's response?

The Tánaiste: I am a champion of the policies that create high quality employment. I am the Minister who brought in the minimum wage. It is the policies over the past few years that have delivered 500,000 people at work here. That is an incredible statistic not matched by any country in the developed world. That is what I champion.
We have strong laws in regard to unfair dismissal and constructive dismissal. Where there are deficiencies in legislation, they will be addressed, but the enforcement of the law is a crucial issue. We must remember that, thankfully, we are talking about a small minority of cases. Those cases are being pursued by the relevant authorities and we have-----

J. Higgins: It is not a small minority of cases but an increasing number of cases.

The Tánaiste: -----robust labour relations machinery in this State that acts very speedily and quickly. That is a fact. If the Deputy were to compare our labour relations infrastructure, the LRC, the rights commissioners and the Labour Court, it compares extraordinarily favourably with many other countries. The trade union movement has been the first to acknowledge that.

Joe why don't you publish all and any info you have here?

by eeekkkkk

Wed Jun 15, 2005 15:24

Do an 'Joe Higgins minority report'? And don't ask permission to publish it?

Well said

by Hear, hear

Wed Jun 15, 2005 13:23

"The best defence by workers whether Irish or migrant against exploitation is a strong and active trade union movement. The need for this is particularly acute now with the use by employers of Eastern European workers in an attempt to undercut trade union rates of pay and conditions in this state. The trade unions themselves have many lessons to learn from the GAMA experience. What it poses most strongly is that the unions need to proactively engage with migrant workers, recruit them to the unions and ensure that they can make common cause with their fellow Irish workers."

Looking forward to an SP initiative on this.

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Comments (3 of 3)