Sir, – The article "Uncompetitive wage rates will put us out of business, says Greyhound boss" (July 17th) has cemented my long-held view that the collection of domestic waste should have remained the sole preserve of local authorities and should never have become an enterprise opportunity for private entrepreneurs.
The job of collection of waste of any kind, whether it be business or domestic, is an essential service and those who do such work have an unenviable role for which they ought to be at least reasonably well paid. Greyhound, however, faces the usual requirements of “reduced costs” and “increased productivity” (it’s curious how the generally accepted goal of all private enterprise, ie the maximising of profits, is generally absent from such arguments) so workers find themselves competitors in the so-called “race to the bottom”.
Greyhound’s executive director, Michael Buckley, states, “I know the pay cuts we are looking for are big, but if [the workers] win, and get what they want, then we are out of business.”
But, surely, that's part and parcel of capitalism? So be it. If a business can't pay its workers a living wage that allows them a pride in doing their job, coupled with a salary which allows them some semblance of dignity, then it has no right to remain in business in any kind of civilised society. However, with pusillanimous unions, laissez faire governments and a society that is rapidly seguing into an economy, that notion is receding. – Yours, etc,
JD MANGAN,
Stillorgan Road,
Co Dublin.