Trade unions and employers united at the start of Anti-Racist Workplace Week yesterday to call for a more coherent immigration policy.
The two groups, which are at loggerheads in the partnership talks, set aside their differences to criticise the exploitation of immigrant workers, who are the focus of the week-long initiative.
Ms Jackie Harrison, director of social policy with the Irish Business Employers' Confederation (IBEC), said she hoped the workplace initiatives against racism this week would be built on throughout the year.
She said last week's High Court case involving the exploitation of Brazilian workers highlighted the amount of work to be done in this area.
Ms Harrison also endorsed a call by Mr David Begg, ICTU's general secretary, for a more coherent policy framework for immigration.
Mr Begg said a coherent, rational and principled immigration policy was needed.
"It's essential to put a lot of effort into formulating and framing that policy," he said, citing race relations problems in the UK, which first saw immigration in substantial numbers 40 years ago.
"It would be unconscionable if we ended up in the same situation, so we have to try to plan for that and to deal with it in as effective a way as we possibly can."
Mr Begg said he was disturbed by anti-immigrant sentiment during the recent Nice referendum campaign.
"It put me to thinking that perhaps there is a bigger hill to climb here than we thought," he added.
He said he would like to work closer with IBEC to put joint proposals to Government to help combat the exploitation of migrant workers.
The aim of Anti-Racist Workplace Week, which runs until Friday, is to stimulate and support practical initiatives at work.
The week is a joint initiative between IBEC, ICTU, the Construction Industry Federation and the Government-funded Know Racism Campaign.
The chief executive of the Equality Authority, Mr Niall Crowley, said the focus of this year's initiative on migrant workers was aimed at highlighting their experiences of racism.
He said race-related discrimination claims under the Employment Equality Act amounted to 8 per cent of the authority's casework in 2000. This doubled to 16 per cent in 2001 and currently stands at 27 per cent. This casework covered the issues of equal pay, working conditions and excessive hours, he said.
"This is bad for migrant workers. It is also bad for business given the centrality of migrant workers to our potential for further economic growth," he added.
The SIPTU Against Racism Group invited immigrant workers to visit the Liberty Hall Centre in Dublin to get information about their employment rights.