Actons Hotel in Kinsale will reopen on Thursday after a seven month-long renovation and with the creation of 40 full-time jobs.

Many young people are losing out on careers in the hospitality industry because they have a negative perception of the sector, a well-known Cork hotelier said yesterday.

A number of workers from sectors including retail, hotels and contract cleaning are at the Labour Court today calling for a reinstatement of the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) system.

Employers and trade unions have clashed over whether or not the abolition of wage-setting mechanisms through the courts has led to an increase in the number of workers hired by businesses.

THE Construction Industry Federation (CIF) is to seek a further 20% cut in the legally binding pay rates for up to 50,000 site-based workers in the industry.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) is "outraged" with the Government’s decision to reintroduce the JLC wage-setting system.

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton has said new legislation published today will give greater protection to lower paid workers.

LEGISLATION to protect low-paid workers’ pay and conditions will be published by the Government today.

ALMOST half of restaurants have seen their business increase turnover in the last eight months compared with the previous year, a survey has found.

STRUGGLING consumers are facing an onslaught of price rises over the coming months.

TENSIONS between the Coalition partners over the reform of wage agreements are likely to continue after Labour warned that measures must be taken to protect lower-paid workers.

Sinn Féin has announced its alternative plan to the Government's decision to abolish the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) agreements for workers in certain industries.

The Government has decided not to appeal last week's High Court ruling which struck down the laws surrounding certain wage agreements.

Fianna Fail's jobs spokesperson Willie O'Dea has said Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton must "act immediately" to reassure 200,000 low paid workers around the country.

A HIGH Court decision upholding a challenge by fast food operators to an order setting minimum pay and conditions for catering workers outside Dublin has serious implications for the pay and conditions of about 200,000 low-paid workers.

The High Court yesterday found that there were insufficient principles and policies in the legislation governing the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) system to permit it to operate constitutionally.

The Government is examining ways to protect the pay and conditions of tens of thousands of workers after the High Court ruled wage contracts for low-earners were unconstitutional.

EMPLOYERS are pushing to dismantle the structure that regulates overtime and Sunday working for lower-paid workers in the catering, hotel and construction industry.

The Minister for Jobs and Enterprise Richard Bruton is insisting that changes to JLC wage agreements will not lead companies to lay off staff and rehire them.

Negotiations on proposals to reform wage-setting mechanisms of workers have begun between Jobs Minister Richard Bruton and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is to meet with the Jobs Minister Richard Bruton in Dublin later this evening.

THE Government is coming under further pressure over its plans to reform the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) system as the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said proposals to overhaul the system were “totally inadequate”.

THE Labour Party believes there is a need to change wage agreements for lower-paid workers, according to leader Eamon Gilmore.

Labour minister Pat Rabbitte has dismissed suggestions of a leadership-backed attack on Richard Bruton’s wage reform plans.

THE Coalition Government has rushed to stamp out any suggestion of a rift between them over plans to scrap premium Sunday and overtime pay rates for low-paid workers.

Business groups have welcomed proposals to reform the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) wage-setting mechanisms.

EMPLOYERS concerned about wage costs for overtime and Sunday work were told that special hourly rates should remain after a report stopped short of recommending immediate pay changes.

A REVIEW of the legally binding agreements which set the wages for more than 200,000 workers has concluded that the current system should be maintained to protect the employment standards of vulnerable workers.

HOTELIER Liam Griffin believes the “government needs to act quickly and courageously to address the financial crisis facing the hotel industry”.

A PROPOSED overhaul of premium pay for weekend and overtime workers in the catering and retail sectors is set to lead to clashes among the Coalition partners.

PUBLICANS have called on the Government to introduce a series of urgent measures, including a reform of the rates system and a ban on below-cost sales of alcohol, to help hundreds of struggling pubs around the country to survive the recession.

Retail Excellence Ireland has said the measures announced in today's jobs initiative are a welcome relief for the struggling retail industry.

Retail sales fell 1.7% in March 2011 compared with the same month last year, according to new data released by the Central Statistics Office today.

Restaurant owners said today that urgent Government action was needed in order to prevent further job losses in the sector.

Retail Ireland has said that new CSO retail sales figures for February continued to deteriorate, as core retail sales headed into their fourth year of decline.

Staff at a number of fast food giants are taking to the streets later to highlight their anger at what they regard as the industry's attack on their wages.

There will be further job losses in the retail sector unless the new Government takes action to remedy problems facing the sector, according to David Fitzsimons, chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland (REI).

LABOUR has pledged to scrap upward-only commercial rent reviews to help struggling businesses stay afloat if the party is handed power.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association has given a guarded welcome to the Government’s National Recovery Plan.

RETAILERS don’t expect the economy to grow again until the second quarter of 2011, according to an ADM Londis survey.

TOURISM interests including Fáilte Ireland and the Irish Hotels Federation have warned that the continuing operation of so-called “zombie” hotels was placing many businesses and jobs in the sector in jeopardy.

The Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) conference has endorsed its leadership’s decision to recommend acceptance of the Croke Park agreement on public sector pay and reform.

Restaurant workers will protest outside Supermacs in Eyre Square in Galway City later.