A group of Romanian construction workers who have been paid less than half the agreed hourly industry rate said they fear they will have to return home if an ongoing pay dispute is not resolved.
Talks between union representatives and the men's employer were under way in Dublin late yesterday, after the workers downed tools for the day. The nine men, all carpenters and steel-fixers, claim they were paid only sporadically and were obliged to work a 60 hour week, earning €6 per hour. Their one-year contracts, with a two-month probation period, stipulate an hourly rate of €6 for work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. five days per week. However, the hourly rate agreed between trade unions and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) for such skilled workers is €14.44 and €14.89.
The company which recruited the men is not part of the CIF - the management association for the construction industry which has agreed the hourly rates. However, the men have been sub-contracted by their employer, Apex Structures Limited in Barberstown, Maynooth, Co Kildare, to sites in Dublin operated by major building contractors who are CIF members.
The men arrived in Ireland last November and are living three to a caravan in a site near Clane, Co Meath. The accommodation is supplied rent-free by Apex, which also provides the men with transport to work free.
The men said they paid €1,500 to a recruitment agency in Romania and paid a further €500 for their flights. One of the men claimed they had been told there would be no more work for them in the coming weeks.
They attended a meeting with Mr Mick Finnegan, a branch official with SIPTU's construction branch, in Liberty Hall yesterday. This was followed by a meeting between the union and the director of Apex, Mr Eugene O'Neill, yesterday afternoon which continued into the evening.
"We are coming here today because we are very scared because if we go home things will be very bad for us," said one of the men. "We borrowed money to come here and things will be worse if we go home."
Mr Finnegan said he hoped the issue could be resolved. He said the men were entitled to back pay, overtime and provision for sickness. The men are part of a larger group of 51 workers recruited by the company. Mr Finnegan accused the CIF of washing its hands of the issue, despite the fact that the men have been working on CIF-member sites. Mr Eddie Nolan from the CIF rejected this, and said it had facilitated a meeting last week between Apex and the union which he had believed had resolved the issue.
"We are very anxious this is sorted out. Hopefully these talks will sort it out," he added. The director of Apex declined to comment when contacted yesterday.
The men were recruited under an intra-company transfer scheme which allows for employees of companies with branches abroad to work in Ireland without work permits or visas.