There was a time when people were employed mainly on a casual basis. Stories we heard in the past about Dublin docks aptly illustrate the position. At that time people turned up for work at 7 a.m. and were told that a number of them would be employed and the rest of them could go home. That practice seems to be returning.
Casual and part-time jobs are creeping in. I am not talking about a firm that takes on a part-time employee because a full-time job might not be justified. The casualisation of work is reflected in many ways. It is happening in the retail trade, with which the Minister has been dealing, in terms of extending opening hours, Sunday trading and zero hour contracts. The casualisation of work has also crept into many multinationals which compete with labour practices abroad. It was approved and allowed to a small extent as a special concession as part of the restructuring under the Cahill plan in Aer Lingus.
According to the plans that practice is now being adopted in a major way in CIE where permanent jobs are being replaced by temporary ones, all in the name of competition. CIE is trying to compete with private firms whose workers may be on the dole, paid under the table or have ridiculously low salaries to justify entitlement to family income supplement. There are all types of fiddles going on and the State organisation must compete and be seen to be doing so with these fiddles. It is bad enough for private firms to do away with jobs, but the State and State agencies must not be allowed do the same.
The Minister is allowing years of progress, fought for and won by the trade union movement, to unravel around us. The casualisation of work is bad and is contrary to trade union principles. I do not understand how a Labour Party Minister can allow that happen. That amazes and horrifies me. It is bad for the Government to allow firms, be they private or State, to be subsidised by engaging in various fiddles with the Department of Social Welfare through paying low salaries to enable workers obtain family income supplement or allowing workers remain on the dole. It is bad for society when we encourage breadwinners, certainly in the case of CIE, to take low grade jobs with a basic salary of about £200 per week. We encourage these people to sell their jobs and take a redundancy package. They are then replaced on a temporary basis for a couple of hours at peak times in the week.
We all genuflect to disadvantaged suburbs in Dublin where there are many housing areas where few people have jobs. This creates a division between the haves and the have-nots. There will be many houses in one area with two jobs and another area with no jobs at all. Partners are encouraged to take a part-time job.
The Minister dealt with this issue in relation to Sunday trading and retailing. I ask her for a statement on what progress she has made because I understood legislation was to be introduced on that matter. When are we going to see it or can she make a commitment to it? Private firms may be using casual labour and we may have to live with that, but it is a disgrace that we are encouraging the Government and semi-State bodies to do it. They are acting like small private fly-by-night companies. When will the Minister introduce legislation to stop this practice? In the meantime can she stop State agencies discrediting the system and turning back years of progress fought for by trade unions?
