Introduce a ‘living wage’ to help the 145,000 people in employment who live in poverty;
A New Deal for Working People
Work should be rewarding, safe, and secure. Yet thousands of workers in Ireland are still getting a bad deal.
Download our Work Manifesto (PDF)
Work
Our mission is to ensure that work is rewarding, safe, and secure. Yet thousands of working people in Ireland are still in low pay, insecure employment or getting a bad deal. We will end low wages and give employees more power at work.
Our Priorities for Working People
- Introduce a ‘living wage’ to help the 145,000 people in employment who live in poverty.
- Give employees a right to flexible work and freedom to upskill, promote collective bargaining and regulate AI use in the workplace, stamp out bogus self employment.
- Expand paid leave for parents up to a full year, and legislate for new reproductive leave to cover time off work due to pregnancy loss or fertility treatment.
How will we do this:
Lift low pay and end age discrimination
We will turn the minimum wage into a living wage, which is 66% of median earnings. We’ll end pay discrimination against young people under 20 who earn below the minimum wage. For example in 2025 the minimum wage will be €13.50 per hour, however if you’re 18 you’re only entitled to €10.80. We will ensure apprentices are paid at least the minimum wage, and increase the Statutory Redundancy Cap from €600 to €1000 a week. We will bring in Fair Pay agreements for low pay sectors by making the JLC system stronger and removing the employer veto.
Enhance work life balance of working people
Provide a legal right to remote work and the right to switch off. We’ve got to ensure that working families have a proper work life balance and that employers have to drop the vicious “always on” mentality. We will promote the 4 day week, make Good Friday a public holiday for all, and look to introduce another public holiday to bring Ireland in line with the EU average.
Promote trade union membership
We are the Party of the trade union movement and believe every worker should be professionally represented in the workplace. We’ll overhaul the Unfair Dismissals legislation to protect workers and shop stewards from victimisation. We’ll also restore tax relief on trade union membership fees.
Freedom to learn and upskill
There is a massive surplus of nearly €2 billion in the National Training Fund. We’ll unlock this fund to allow mid-career workers to upskill or embark on a new career direction. Labour wants to make sure that workers can choose their upskilling options, rather than it being dictated by an employer.
Leverage the State’s €20 billion plus procurement budget
Each year the State spends more than €20 billion in the private sector through procurement – everything from stationary to major infrastructure projects. We’ll ensure that decent incomes and valuing collective bargaining are important factors in allocating the State’s procurement budget.