Mick's kettle calling the pot pink

Its only months since the General Election. Few new TDs have made an impact like Mick Wallace. Mick regards himself as a national politician who said that issues such as hospitals are not for him. Mick’s flamboyant straight talking style has now caught him out. Sitting along one TD who’s a hedge fund manager and another who cuts turf, they cut straight to the point when discussing a FG TD’s attire during a Dail vote.

I’ve no problem with his clothing and whatever he want’s to wear. But I draw the line at his double standards. Today’s papers are full of the group sexism the three men engaged in. He’s right when he says today that he’s bang out of order. Another issue he’s bang out of order on his concern for the future of JLC’s and the Sunday premium.
Last week in the Dail he said “I employ 52 people in the restaurant industry and can assure the House that JLC rates are not my problem. I have other problems in that the position has been very difficult for restaurants in the past couple of years”.
Mick went on “An employer cannot complain about Sundays. A Deputy on the other side of the House claimed that only Friday, Saturday and Sunday are busy days in this country. That is not true. I can tell her that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are more lucrative days than Sunday in Dublin and Wexford.”

My eye is drawn to these remarks as its only about a year since a local paper in Wexford reported he was instructed to make settlements to his restaurant workers for not paying Sunday premiums under the exact same JLC agreements that he says he now has no problem with! While Mick Wallace may not have a problem now with the JLC rates, a year ago he was up to his neck in it and it ended up at an employment appeals tribunal after a worker who insisted on being paid these was sacked!

It’s not so much a matter of the clothes he wears but the reality that on this one issue of protecting low paid workers, Emperor Mick Wallace hasn’t a stitch on him! His election posters said that he stood for new politics. I’m not so sure anymore about that. There’s the element of do as I say but not as I do on this one.

If Mick had also paid his sub contractors there is the chance that there’d still be enough revenue to support the SNA’s that work in my classroom? In the past I’ve sympathised with Mick Wallace when his companies were placed in receivership. Mick has to understand that sympathy is not a one way street and soon people will run out of time for him. Even those on low pay have their limits.

Bruton’s beeline for Labours red line?

In each department the line minister is the ultimate decider of policy. The Duffy/Walsh report into pay rates was ordered by the outgoing Enterprise Minister Batt O’Keeffe. The report was agreed as part of EU/IMF/ECB bail out. For weeks there have been suggestions in the media and business circles that the report would roll back the regulation of pay in sectors such as hospitality, restaurants, etc. paving the way for lots of extra jobs. At least that what IBEC would have us believe. Their idea was to cut premium payment for Sunday work and streamline other allowances and rates dividing greater Dublin from the rest of the country, making it easier to take on extra workers at a lower rate. What you might ask about the consumer? Was there not a suggestion that charges could drop in these sector as dramatically as proposed? The straight answer was; No!

The reality for many trying to get to work on a Sunday is that public transport is non existent in rural areas on a Sunday morning, child minding impossible. Many people still regard Sunday as a day of observance or a family day. There is a need to cover these expenses on the part of the employer. Is it likely that the Minister comes into work on a Sunday in his office with or without any allowance using public transport?

It must have come as a huge disappointment to the suits when the Duffy Walsh Report made no such recommendations for sweeping change. Indeed the report highlighted the importance of having agreement in the sector about how wages could be decided to avoid having differentials between businesses. However Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has indicated his own view that JLC rates should be cut any way. It is merely his own view and not a Labour view and not the National Government. This time last year Richard called the Fine Gael leadership wrong. He was out of step with his own party and was dismissed as a man who eats his dinner in the evening, presumably in one of the restaurants he now wants to see pay their workers less. What is more interesting is that few FG back benchers have supported his call for pat cuts for those on low pay.

In this rush of blood to throw out the Duffy Walsh report one wonders who would bother preparing a report for his department in the future? If the detailed work is going to be summarily dismissed because the minister has decided otherwise? I don’t believe for a minute that the minister will get the changes he wants, it’ll never come to that. However the difference between Labour and Fine Gael or more correctly Richard Bruton should be dealt with before the matter is publicly aired. That’s what programme managers used to do. As I’ve blogged before we do need them badly to get agreement on how issues should be addressed. I’ve always regarded John Bruton as antagonistic minister to Labour but an outstanding Taoiseach. Perhaps Richard should have a word with his brother before he changes low pay into no pay?