Call to introduce living wage for retail workers at Mayo conference
MANDATE Trade Union, which represents 30,000 workers mostly across the retail sector, has today called for the immediate introduction of €12.90ph as an entry point for all workers in retail, with higher rates for longer serving staff.
Mandate’s general secretary, Gerry Light, made the call at the Mandate Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC), which is themed 'Essential Work, Fair Play, Decent Wages', in Castlebar, in front of 150 delegates.
Mr. Light said the call was in recognition of the selfless way retail workers served the public during the course of the pandemic.
“I am using the occasion of my address today to call for the living wage of €12.90 to be immediately introduced as the new hourly entry point of pay for all retail workers along with commensurate pay increases for longer serving members of staff,” said Mr Light.
“It can no longer be argued with any justification that the value of your collective contribution to both business and society generally doesn’t deserve such recognition,” he told the conference.
Mr. Light called on the Low Pay Commission to also take action: “I know that the Low Pay Commission is currently tasked by the Tánaiste to explore the possibility of making the minimum wage the current living wage rate and I would urge that the Commission recommends this as a matter of urgency.”
He also explained how a just reward for all workers who sacrificed so much during the pandemic would be the introduction of collective bargaining rights.
“Once off payments or indeed public holidays will simply not cut it,” said Mr. Light. “What is needed from this point forward is meaningful and permanent improvements to your terms and conditions of employment.”
He said: “The government must step up to the plate and introduce legislation which allows workers and their union of choice the statutory power to collectively bargain, with all employers not just the willing few. A constitutional right to be a member of a trade union is meaningless unless workers are afforded the opportunity to fully vindicate that right.”
He threw down the gauntlet to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar to introduce this legislation as a matter of urgency.
On the Covid situation, Mr. Light reaffirmed the union’s call for the reintroduction of mandatory face masks to be worn by the public in retail settings.
“After what our members have been through over the past two years, they deserve nothing less. We must not let our guards down and strive to protect them to the highest level possible until the current wave of excessive infection rates has passed,” he said.