Muireann Dalton is on a permanent contract with Dunnes Stores, but it often feels like a part-time job
Her contract states that she may work between 15 and 39 hours a week. As a result, her working week – and take-home pay -- can vary considerably.
“On a good week you might earn €320. But it can fall to €240 week or lower. It means you scrape by. If I had some certainty over my working hours I could do a second job. But you can’t, because there’s no guarantee over the hours you work.
Dalton, who has three children, aged 13, 20 and 22, says she needs all the money she can get. Her husband lost his factory job – he’s now completing a course – and they’ve had difficulties paying their mortgage in recent years; they meet with their bank twice a year to show they’re able to keep up repayments.
“They say retail isn’t a skilled job, but it is. I love it. It takes a personality to get the customers coming back into the store each day. But the insecurity of not knowing if you have enough to pay the bills or to go on a holiday is difficult.”
Dalton, who is from Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, is a member of the Mandate trade union, and has campaigned for longer working hours.
Dunnes Store has said it does not engage with unions and has accused Mandate of engineering a row to pursue an agenda of securing union recognition.
Dalton says there are many like her who want to work longer – but feel trapped by workplace practices.
“People might say it’s my fault for signing a contract like that. But I thought if you worked hard you’d get rewarded with extra hours. Instead it seems to be a policy to hire, say, three people to do 60 hours rather than two to do 30 hours each.”
Stephen McLeod, archaeologist: 'There's a big brain drain in the profession'
Stephen McLeod, who is 26, has worked in call centres, retail and other sectors in recent years. Yet the most insecure of all the positions he’s had is the one he’s most qualified for: archaeology. Even with bachelor’s and master’s degrees his work still comes in dribs and drabs of contracts ranging from a few weeks to a few months.
Archaeology, he concedes, has never been the securest of professions. But the duration of work has been shrinking in recent years, he says, making it increasingly impossible to plan for the future.
“It’s the not knowing which is the most difficult part,” he says. “A two-week contract can turn into six months. You never know what you’re dealing with. How do you begin to book a holiday? How do you know if you’ll be able to make a wedding? A job with a definite period of time? I haven’t had one of those in a very long time. It’s extremely chaotic. I don’t have kids or family, but when people face into that they leave. There’s a big brain drain in the profession.”
Some workers are organising through trade unions, such as Unite, to campaign for better working conditions and more secure contracts. Good progress is being made, he says, but it is slow.
“Our problem has been that archaeologists see their work as a passion and a profession. People are very keen to get their foot in the door and often don’t worry about contracts or entitlements. Employers can easily take advantage of that.”
