Labour calls for a living wage for all workers – Bacik address at Connect Trade Union conference

Labour calls for a living wage for all workers - Bacik address at Connect Trade Union conference - The Labour Party

Speaking at the Connect Trade Union conference in Kilkenny today, Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD announced plans to legislate for a Living Wage.

Deputy Bacik stated that she has now restored her bill to amend the National Minimum Wage legislation to the Dail Order Paper, calling the Government’s bluff on providing decent pay for all workers.

Deputy Bacik said:

“In 2022 I proposed legislation that would ensure all workers earn a living wage, through amending the National Minimum Wage Acts. Those amendments would transform the Low Pay Commission into a Living Wage Commission, with a mandate to get all workers onto a Living Wage within three years.

“Following a debate,  Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael allowed my Bill to pass to the next stage in the Oireachtas legislative process – before cynically leaving it to languish there. They said then that minimum wage workers did not need this bill; that they could trust the Minister.

“Well, today I am calling the Government’s bluff – I have restored that Bill to the Dail Order Paper in a move to see the real colour of Government’s money.

“As the 300,000 public sector workers on the picket lines made clear this week – people need a fair day’s pay for a day’s work: for all workers, for apprentices, for everyone.

“Craft workers as represented by the Connect union are the innovators and problem solvers of this world. The State needs these workers, but it should not be asking them to do their important work at a discount.

“Labour is unapologetic about the need to ensure pay rises for the lowest paid workers, and to enable negotiated pay rises for workers across the labour market, in private and public sectors alike.

“In a week where Government were forced to listen to the pleas of the trade union movement for fair pay for workers in a cost of living crisis, Labour is restating its commitment to fighting for the vital union principle; fair pay for a fair day’s work, for all.”