NEW EMPLOYEES will be the most affected by proposals to overhaul wage-setting mechanisms for more than 200,000 workers, Minister for Enterprise and Jobs Richard Bruton said last night.
In a change of emphasis on the likely impact of his contentious proposals, Mr Bruton pointed out that existing workers were protected by contracts of employment.
He said his proposals, “if implemented, would not of themselves change the terms of those contracts.
“In reality, the proposals are likely to have the greatest impact on new employees, and thereby create an incentive for employers to hire,” he said. “However, it is important to be open and acknowledge that this may, over time, have the effect of causing an adjustment to the terms on which some workers are employed.”
Mr Bruton’s plan to end Sunday premium payments for workers in sectors including hotels, restaurants and retailing has angered Labour Party backbenchers. They remained critical of his proposals last night, in spite of his insistence that they would largely affect new rather than existing employees.
In his speech, to his constituency organisation in Clontarf, Mr Bruton said he was committed to “radical reform” of the joint labour committee (JLC) system which sets minimum pay and conditions in the sectors concerned.
He said his proposals were “derived directly” from the findings of an independent review drawn up by the Labour Court chairman Kevin Duffy and UCD economist Frank Walsh.
Mr Bruton said that with 443,400 on the Live Register there was the risk of a lost generation developing and this was why he was determined to proceed with urgency to bring about the reforms needed to get as many people off the dole queues.
He said his proposals did not contradict the Duffy-Walsh report, which had said that lowering basic JLC rates to the level of the minimum wage was unlikely to have a substantial impact on employment.
“However, none of the changes proposed will impact on basic JLC rates. Any changes will be to rates over and above the basic rates.”
He said it was also important to remember that the joint labour committees applied only to 25 per cent of private sector workers.
A spokesman for Mr Bruton said his proposals remained the same. He said in no way did the speech represent a change in position and the Minister was taking the opportunity to provide for the first time some context to the proposals.
Labour declined to comment on Mr Bruton’s speech. A spokeswoman said “things were as they were” and the party would await formal proposals to Cabinet before commenting.
Galway East Labour TD Colm Keaveney said Mr Bruton’s proposals would result in the wholesale displacement of mainly Irish workers, who would be “thrown to the wolves” by employers.
“This is a very dangerous proposal because anyone who remained on the conditions as they are currently governed by joint labour committees would be completely vulnerable. It would be very easy for unscrupulous employers to force them out the door.”
Dublin South-East TD Kevin Humphries said he would be “very cautious” about Mr Bruton’s latest comments. He pointed out that when the minimum wage was reduced for new employees, some employers tried immediately to force down the wages of existing staff.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secrerary David Begg, whose organisation met Mr Bruton this week to express concern about his proposals, said he did not see much value in what the Minister said last night. “It would mean that employers would use every stratagem they could to get rid of existing people,” he said.
Fianna Fáil enterprise spokesman Willie O’Dea criticised Mr Bruton for going further than the Duffy-Walsh recommendations.