Pay Transparency Delays another blow to women from anti-worker government
Pay Transparency Delays another blow to women from anti-worker government - The Labour Party
- Minister Foley must explain her failure to act and when legislation will be introduced.
- No progress on collective bargaining or remote work.
- Govt constantly voting down any legislation to strengthen rights.
Labour spokesperson for worker’s rights, Senator Nessa Cosgrove has said the ongoing delays to the pay transparency directive is unacceptable, but that is what we should expect from the most anti-worker government in a generation, calling on the Minister for Equality to outline when she will publish the necessary legislation.
Senator Cosgrove said:“Once again workers in Ireland must rely on the EU to ensure they have improved workers rights, but it is unacceptable that the government continue to delay full implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive which hits women in particular. There is a mandatory deadline of June 7th for the transposition of the directive.
“In recent months the Labour Party has raised this in the Oireachtas tabling an amendment to a Dáil motion on workers’ rights in April, calling for the introduction of legislation to fully implement the Directive before the summer recess.
“I am calling on Minister Foley to explain her failure, and clarify when she will fully implement the law, by bringing forward the delayed Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. This would transpose Article 5 of the Directive covering provision of information on salary. A further bill will be required for the other outstanding elements and we need to see the general scheme for this legislation and a timeline for implementation. We know this right wing government will do as little as possible to support workers’ rights, choosing instead to help big business, but simply ignoring an EU directive is not good enough.
“This is the most anti-worker government in a generation as it has stopped and paused other improvements in workers’ rights such as statutory sick pay and the living wage. No progress has been made on collective bargaining. It has consistently voted down proposals from Labour to improve the rights of workers, stopping bills on remote work, reform of JLCs, increases to apprenticeship pay and an end to lower pay rates for young people on the minimum wage.
“It really is extraordinary that both the representatives of workers through ICTU, and business through IBEC are calling for implementation and certainty, while the government fails to act. The gender pay gap has not gone away and is still a serious issue for women in the workforce, and as ICTU has highlighted, the failure to act on the directive will cost women more than €570 million a year in lost wages.”