[ad_1]
The Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Trade, Damien English, has promised that the government will give “serious and detailed consideration” to union proposals for a tax on employers.
This would finance higher severance pay in certain circumstances.
In presenting their plan, Mandate and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions cited agreements in Germany, France and Austria for “Levy Funds” to private sector employers, ranging from 0.66% to 0.35%.
Mandate Secretary General Gerry Light said: “This fund could be applied retroactively to former Debenhams workers, facilitating advance payment of their severance pay.
“Similar funds exist in several European countries and they work progressively to ensure that workers get their full pay in a layoff scenario.”
ICTU and Mandate want to see the introduction of a legal scheme “whereby, in cases of insolvency, the enhanced dismissal payments provided for by means of a collective agreement could be recovered as a preferential debt and, ultimately, be payable by the State. through the Social Security Fund. “
The unions also raise the possibility of a mechanism by which the State can recover the money paid by the employer in question, where the assets were subsequently realized.
Mr. Light emphasized the urgency of implementing the recommendations “so that workers with an employer currently in the process of liquidation can benefit from its provisions, and that future workers in similar circumstances are protected from dishonest employers.”
The issue has come to the fore because of the Debenhams dispute. More than 1,000 workers lost their jobs in April when the company’s Irish operation went into liquidation.
They have been campaigning for the payment of four weeks per year of service, as agreed in a 2016 collective agreement, instead of the legal minimum of two weeks per year of service with a limit of 600 euros per week.
Last night, Debenhams shop stewards unanimously endorsed the Irish Congress of Trade Unions campaign and its Union Mandate for new legislation to make the provisions of the Duffy-Cahill report into law.
This report examined company law and workers’ rights after the Clerys collapse.
If it becomes law, they argue, former Debenhams workers would be entitled to four weeks’ pay per year of service under the firing terms of their collective bargaining agreement.
In response to the ICTU / Mandate proposals, the Minister of State for Employment and Retail Affairs Damien English described them as “valuable suggestions” that would be seriously considered by himself and the Government.
However, he cautioned: “The proposals and their review will require more detail and, in this regard, I would welcome further input from ICTU, specifically any details you can provide on international examples referenced in your correspondence.”
He also noted that the proposals would require broader consideration “not only across government but also among stakeholders, such as employers.”
Mr. English referred to the commitments of the Government Program, including that of reviewing whether the legal provisions relating to collective dismissals and the liquidation of companies “effectively protect the rights of workers.”
However, employer groups are likely to strongly resist any attempt to impose more taxes on companies.
Small and medium-sized business group ISME said they were “shocked” by the union’s proposal for a tax on employers to fund improved firing conditions when a collective agreement existed.
CEO Neil McDonnell said unions seemed unaware that employers had paid an additional 0.5% PRSI to capitalize on the statutory layoff fund since 1979.
He noted that while the statutory dismissal bonus for employers had been abolished in 2013, that tax for employers was still in effect.
Prior to the Debenhams liquidation, staff had a 2016 collective agreement with their former employers that entitled them to four weeks of pay per year of service, but KPMG liquidators insist the agreement has no legal value now that the company is on sale.
As a result, former employees will only receive the legal minimum entitlement of two weeks per year of service with a limit of € 600 per week.
Since April, workers have picketed all 11 stores, preventing liquidators Andrew O’Leary and Kieran Wallace from taking stock of the facility to advance the liquidation.
They also occupied stores on Patrick Street in Cork and Henry Street in Dublin earlier this week, although those occupations have ended.
Gerry Light praised what he called the “courage and iron determination” displayed by the members over the past few months.
However, the Secretary General of the Mandate warned that, after KPMG’s withdrawal of the conciliation proposals, the workers had only one way to achieve their demands, which was to persecute the Government.
Light urged politicians to support the campaign, arguing that the bailout of the banks had been handled overnight, and called for a similar urgency to address the plight of workers “abandoned by unscrupulous employers.”
[ad_2]