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SIPTU’S PRESIDENT, JACK O’Connor, recently said that his union is about to start a campaign for pay increases here of 5% right across the board.
O’Connor was speaking at an event marking the commemoration of Jim Larkin’s death in 1947 and also said that his union will engage in “a new battle to establish a minimum living wage of €11.45 an hour across all those sectors of the economy, where the gross exploitation of vulnerable workers is the order of the day.” The current minimum wage here is €8.65 per hour.
Of course, it’s all about striking the right balance between protection for workers and job creation but we already have one of the highest minimum wage packets on the planet, according to a Movehub study that was conducted last year.
Ireland has the seventh highest minimum wage in the world
In a survey of 214 countries, Ireland was found to have the seventh highest minimum wage at just over €18,000 a year ahead of France, the Netherlands, and Canada. The UN’s recent Global Wage Report also revealed Ireland’s high wage rate in comparison to the rest of the world. Ireland came fourth behind Australia, Switzerland, and Denmark when it came to hourly rates in the manufacturing industry.
What is fair pay? How jobs are rewarded may always be irrational, an unruly jumble of tradition and notional markets. But raise the price of lettuce and consumers eat fewer salads. By the very same logic, if we raise the price of labour at the lower end of the market, employers will use more machines, employ fewer workers and sell fewer products.
For those already in work, the effects might not be noticeable; but for those locked out of it, they certainly would be. Our youth unemployment figure still stands at a whopping 21.6%. And we all should fear a lost generation of young people who never learn the habits of work and face a lifelong struggle ever to find employment. Economic studies show that when a young person cannot find a job, they are statistically far more likely to slide into long-term unemployment than someone who has worked before.
Employers will find it too expensive to give a person their first job
A higher minimum wage will only price these young people out of work because employers will find it too expensive to give them their first job. Companies won’t want to employ any inexperienced workers, so it will become impossible to climb onto the career ladder at all. Raise the minimum wage and you raise the risk for employers when they take on a new employee. And this will only reduce their motivation to take a chance on a younger worker with few skills and little experience.
Besides, an unskilled or inexperienced unemployed individual doesn’t need a massively higher wage than is on offer now; they need to get to the first rung on the ladder that will eventually lead to a skilled job. A minimum wage is a stepping stone into the world of work. It offers people a path to progress in a career and earn higher wages in the future.
A potentially hollow victory
Then what about the honest, small companies eager to create jobs, but who may very well be put out of business by a higher minimum wage? We need to be creating jobs right now and supporting our slow and infant recovery. Growth must happen first and a substantial minimum wage rise right now would be a very hollow victory if it meant that businesses couldn’t remain competitive and collapsed. There’s also the very real danger of jobs going abroad.
Hike up wages, and our workers will be undercut by foreign rivals, or else the jobs might very likely move into the grey and black markets. It will also raise prices in general and this will affect the unemployed detrimentally. Boosting business investment should be our only priority at the moment. Then as our economy strengthens, our business community will be able to increase wages.
Raising the minimum wage will only hurt the job prospects for the unemployed. We simply can’t afford to price people out of work. We need to find the right balance and have restraint in tough times like these.
Lorraine Courtney is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter @lorrainecath.
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Don’t worry, Micky D won’t rock the boat.
He’s firmly embedded in the establishment now.
@Tommy Haze: By “Micky D” challenging the Government’s Bill, is he not actually rocking the boat.
@Sean O’Doherty: hes not challenging it, just checking that its constitutional he can request further clarification and changes but the real challanges only occur in the courts
Please allow us to keep the corruption flowing, yours sincerely, FFG.
@bruce banner: Labour managed to get a few of their “cronies” into the lower courts over the years too. Decent lawyers that became judges admiringly . How’s it corruption ? Do you understand the term ? Any of those credible and good enough to be a judge would normally make more money practicing as barristers and solicitors . Vastly more money to be made in the private sector and far less hassle compared to what judges have to deal , professionally and personally . What judge appointments to the Superior courts have you or do you take issue with , in light of their legal background ?
Hey, can we talk about Israel/Palestine and the Garda roster disputes here? Seen as though its pretty much the only comments section actually open….
@Irish turf: Individual opinions are not allowed and are dangerous…to the agenda
@Dave Murray: no, don’t , please . (Obviously one can’t stop you ) This section is about appointment of judges . Your attempt to hijack the topic is why so many articles close their comment section
TJ is really not taking any chances with the trouble in the Middle East.
The memo must have gone out on Saturday to shut down all discussion and debate on the topic.
Should get rid of the comments section if you are closing all the ones people want to comment on.
War is bad but if you keep walking over people and denying their freedom they will react at times.
Well said.
No coment, nó coment, irish goverment need to grow a pair and call out Israel. Complete blockage on Gaza, 2 million people starved
@Spudgesh: fully agree.
Top 5 stories, no comments aloud.
@Jay Kay: allowed
Thoughts and prayers with those on both sides of the Gaza Strip.
Is this normal, or just his mouth always open ? Does he use any medication
@ibrahim Sudane: It’s a thinly disguised grimace. He’s not been well since Sabine had the Strapadictome.
Have the GRA taken over the j0urnal. About 90% of comments are closed, even Ardal O’Hanlon and it obviously isn’t listening to anyone’s comments.
I hope Michael D will find time between his holidays to meet the Council of State. Is it not time to stop Govt appointees and separate the Judiciary and State
Was listening to Shatter on radio earlier. He is further to the right than Net in yahooo and given his record in Justice presumably supports the nets supreme court stance. What happened, to both people’s is disgusting but as usual, nobody is asking, WHY, it has gotten this bar baric. History is conveniently ignored! Every Time I watch a doc on the Holocaust, I wonder what lessons were learned and all of this in the name of religion. At this rate only Atheists will be allowed into heaven. Can you imagine if the Messiah arrived in Gaza tomorrow. No water to turn into wine. I am not belittling the tragedy, I am belittling religious human beliefs. The only thing that is going to stop this is climate change.
@BarryH: With the big exception of his eagerness to support the senior police officers , without looking at the evidence , during the whistle blowers affair ; Shatter was a pretty good Justice Minister ! His hands were tied by huge economic obstacles which in turn forced him to close down Garda stations and put a freeze on recruitment. While neither of these black marks are small fry, he was an excellent minister . In case you have not noticed but , Ireland is not a left wing country ! At best it’s centrist and centre right with the occasional centre left . You want some to big done , want hard and tough decisions made , you vote right wing .
Islamic terrorists on the Luas lines?
have your say