Name and shame exploitative firms, says union

Companies which exploit migrant workers by squeezing out of them long hours and low pay should be named and shamed, a trade union official claimed today.

Jim Penders, a shop steward with the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union in Dundalk, told Dublin’s May Day rally some employers were riding roughshod over the rights of workers from Eastern Europe and other countries.

Migrant workers were being charged for rent in overcrowded accommodation in factories, he said.

Mr Penders also reported some were being paid much less than their Irish colleagues and told they could not be members of trade unions.

He said: “I appeal to all the Trades Councils in the country to organise demonstrations outside every employment where this exploitation is taking place, to name and shame those employers who place profit before decency and put themselves up as being pillars of the community.”