Siptu claimed today the Government was letting bad employers exploit migrant workers and build a society "steeped" in racism.
The union's Dublin Regional Secretary Mike Jennings told a meeting of non-Irish shop stewards that the Government has failed dismally to move against even the most shocking cases of exploitation.
Mike Jennings
Mr Jennings said: "In over five years of campaigning for the rights of migrant workers I have never seen attitudes by Irish workers more negative and insecure than they are now".
The meeting was organised to coincide with the UN's International Day Against Racism.
"Every time an employer gets away with exploiting migrant workers two negative consequences ensue," Mr Jennings said.
"First, there is the shameful unfairness against a vulnerable worker but secondly a climate of fear and distrust is built up amongst Irish workers who - in the wake of Irish Ferries, GAMA, Doyle Concrete, Moneypoint etc - think 'am I next?'"
He also criticised employers' group such as Ibec, claiming they had defended the indefensible.
Mr Jennings said: "The lessons of history and the experience of other countries should have taught us that the most fertile breeding ground for racism and hatred is insecurity and fear - in this case fears that competitiveness will be used as an excuse to whittle away even the most minor advance above the legal minimum."
He said: "There has been much talk recently about the phoney distinction between job displacement and job replacement but the outcome is the same in either case, that is, migrant workers being increasingly expected to work for less than their Irish counterparts simply because they are less able to defend themselves and demand equality."
"The Government should commit itself resolutely to defending and implementing decent standards in our workplaces, not only because we owe it to the vulnerable workers who come here seeking a living, not only to stop good employers and good standards being rendered unsustainable competitively, but also because we owe it to future generations not to allow a two tier society to be built and not to allow fear and insecurity to become the breeding grounds of racism," he added.
