Worker & Community Struggles and Protests Madrid Police "Dumbfounded" After Amazon Called The Cops On Striking Workers 22:31 Nov 27 0 comments George Soros’ Open Society Foundation unmasked in a major leak 22:31 Aug 24 1 comments Shell in court over major Corrib gas refinery flaring events. 23:32 Jul 28 0 comments Eddie Hobbs: Largest act of larceny against Irish people 23:22 Jun 02 0 comments CHASE Fundraising Events Calendar for June 23:10 Jun 01 0 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Anti-EmpireUkraine Buys Huge Amounts of Russian Fue... Fri Jan 20, 2023 08:34 | Antonia Kotseva Turkey Has Sent Ukraine Cluster Munition... Thu Jan 12, 2023 00:26 | Jack Detsch New Israeli Government Promises to Talk ... Tue Jan 10, 2023 21:13 | Al Majadeen Russia Training Iranian Pilots Ahead of ... Tue Jan 10, 2023 15:19 | The Times of Israel Lukashenko Abolishes Copyright Protectio... Tue Jan 10, 2023 15:05 | Nikki Main
Human Rights in IrelandA Blog About Human RightsUN human rights chief calls for priority action ahead of climate summit Sat Oct 30, 2021 17:18 | Human Rights 5 Year Anniversary Of Kem Ley?s Death Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:34 | Human Rights Poor Living Conditions for Migrants in Southern Italy Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:14 | Human Rights Right to Water Mon Aug 03, 2020 19:13 | Human Rights Human Rights Fri Mar 20, 2020 16:33 | Human Rights
Lockdown Skeptics
Climate Change is ?Slowing the Earth?s Rotation? Fri Mar 29, 2024 13:00 | Sallust
Hancock Fails to Have Bridgen Libel Case Thrown Out Paving Way for Full Trial Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:00 | Sally Beck
DEI Wokery is Swallowing Small Businesses Too Fri Mar 29, 2024 09:00 | C.J. Strachan
Are We Being Gaslit Over the Cause of the Princess of Wales?s Cancer? Fri Mar 29, 2024 07:00 | Melissa Kite
News Round-Up Fri Mar 29, 2024 00:04 | Richard Eldred
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionMoscow attack reminds us of the links between Islamists and Kiev's fundamentalis... Tue Mar 26, 2024 06:57 | en Failure to assist a people in danger of genocide, by Hassan Hamadé Tue Mar 26, 2024 06:32 | en Yugoslavia March 24, 1999 The Founding War of the New Nato, by Manlio Dinucci Sun Mar 24, 2024 05:15 | en France opposes Russian Korean-style peace project in Ukraine Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:11 | en Voltaire, International Newsletter N°79 Fri Mar 22, 2024 11:40 | en |
Foreign Workers Being Paid €3 An Hour In Portlaoise
laois |
worker & community struggles and protests |
feature
Thursday September 22, 2005 21:02 by Mark C - Teacher oscailt at indymedia dot ie Fairgreen, Portlaoise
Equal pay for Equal work. Is that a difficult concept? From the newswire: €170,000 was the price paid for the house that I am living in, in a new development in Portlaoise. I am not happy to have discovered that European Union (Czech Republic) workers are being paid €3 an hour on the site. Recently my father bought a house at Fairgreen Village (a new post-modern living development) in Portlaoise. A woman that we know, who has been finding it very difficult to secure employment in Portlaoise, was offered a job (by another Eastern European person) cleaning out houses after they had been built, to get them ready for the purchasers to move in. She accepted the job and after the first day told me that she was being paid about €40 for ten hours’ work. This was on day one of the job. When I informed her that this was illegal and that we have minimum pay wage agreements, she told me that she knows but that is what Eastern European workers are paid, and must be satisfied with it. On the second day she was offered €20 for six hours work – a little more than €3 an hour. The woman refused to work for so little, but her friend stayed on. When the woman said that it was illegal, her would-be contractor (a woman from Latvia I think, who I presume to be sub-contracting from the developers, Owenass Developers) she was asked why is she looking for work since she is seeing an Irishman? UPDATE: Owenass Developers have met with Mark and have guaranteed that all workers employed directly by them are getting at least minimum wage and that they will make subcontractors sign a declaration to the same effect. This is something that must stop. We did not pay below the market value for the house. If the market value of the houses not sold goes you, you may be sure that the price of those houses will also rise. If the price of cement, for example, goes up, you may be sure that the prices of as-yet unsold houses will also rise, as the developer will “have no choice but to pass this cost on to the consumer”. If cheaper labour is secured, you may be sure that the prices of the as-yet unsold houses will not fall. The Irish people fought for long enough, and hard enough to secure minimum-pay wage agreements, and labour rights. Allowing foreign workers to work for below this will lead to a fall in the national pay for workers. The argument has been made to me that foreign workers are happy to work for so little, because it is worth so much more in their countries, and they can send some home. I still think that no matter how happy they are with €3 an hour they would be happier with the minimum legal amount. To contact the developers of this site you can email them, phone 0502 43567 or 086 2627314, or write to Sean Flanaghan, Owenass Developments, Portarlington, Co. Laois. The showhouses are open seven days a week. Mark Conroy. Related links: |
View Full Comment Text
save preference
Comments (28 of 28)