People who get up early in the morning need to see zero-hour contracts abolished and a living wage- Nash
Labour Senator Ged Nash has said that hiking the National Minimum Wage and abolishing zero-hour contracts should be prioritised by the newly appointed Minister for Social Protection and Labour, Regina Doherty.
The Labour Party spokesperson for Labour Affairs and Workers’ Rights, said:
“Being on the side of people who get up early in the morning means making work pay, by converting the national minimum wage to a Living Wage.
“It also means abolishing zero hour contracts for the thousands of people who work hard for a living but lie awake at night worrying about how they will feed the kids because they can’t be sure about how many hours they’ll be called in for this week.
“Nowhere is the mark of the ‘do-nothing’ Dáil and Government more apparent than in Fine Gael’s abject failure to make any respectable progress on its own promise of a National Minimum Wage of €10.50 per hour, let alone the ambition of a Living Wage of €11.50 per hour.
“On this evidence and on the basis of the foot dragging on reforming the law on precarious work, far too many people who get up early in the morning have very good reason not to trust Fine Gael and their expensively developed slogans.
“The Varadkar Cabinet can show us the colour of their money and announce without any more delay a timeline to make good on Fine Gael’s own Programme for Government promise on the National Minimum Wage, and to legislate to ban zero hour contracts before the summer recess.
“I will be requesting an early meeting with the new Minister with a view to advancing promised legislation to prohibit the use of zero hour contracts, and to discuss her plans on the minimum wage.
“As a colleague in a neighbouring constituency, I wish Minister Doherty well in her new role and look forward to working with her on these issues.”