The Minister of State for Labour Affairs has invited employers and trade unions to talks on the implementation of Sunday trading legislation. Mr Tom Kitt says that while "significant obstacles" exist, he is optimistic that a mutually acceptable way can be found of resolving the differences. Mr Kitt announced his initiative at the youth conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Dun Laoghaire at the weekend and it was welcomed by the delegates. Many of them were from the retail sector, where Sunday trading has become commonplace.
Last month, Mr Kitt signed the commencement order for the Organisation of Working Time Act, which specifies that employees required to work Sundays be given extra pay or time off. However, several disputes are looming over how the Act should be implemented.
The Minister told delegates that he had written to the ICTU and the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) to discuss a voluntary approach. He was confident the process "need not be too protracted".
The ICTU youth officer, Mr Liam Birney, welcomed the Minister's initiative. He also called on Mr Kitt to ensure that employers who violated the Protection of Young Persons Act were prosecuted.
Recently, a 17-year-old girl was hit by a car and killed on her way home from work at 2 a.m. on a Sunday. "We can only wonder if she had left work, as required under law, at 10 p.m., would she be alive today," he said.
The ICTU would use its representatives on the monitoring committee set up under the Act to highlight abuses, Mr Birney told the Minister.
He also said the ICTU would continue its campaign of highlighting abuses of child labour by manufacturers of sporting goods in the Third World. He instanced the recent agreement between Congress and the Football Association of Ireland to boycott footballs produced by child labour.