Migrant workers to be protected by legislation

NEW protections for migrant workers will prevent the type of exploitation that occurred with Turkish Gama workers happening again, Enterprise and Employment Minister Micheál Martin said yesterday.

The minister said the Employment Permits Bill 2005, published yesterday, will transform the legal status of migrant workers in Ireland.

The new legislation, details of which appeared in the Irish Examiner last week, will ensure that the work permit will in future be held by the employee and not by the employer, as is the case at present.

However, the practice of the employer applying for the permit will continue.

The new permit, Mr Martin said, would contain a statement of all the rights and entitlements of the employee.

Describing it as a legally significant advance, the minister said it would give migrant workers with permits the flexibility and ability to change employers, and do away with perceptions of bonded labour. There was one proviso though: the worker would need to get another employer to sponsor them if they change jobs.

The other new protections - all of which indirectly flow from the Gama dispute - will prohibit the retention of passports and other documentation by employers as well as banning the practice of deducting money from wages for recruitment and other expenses.

Stiff penalties will be levied for breaches, including fines of up to €50,000 and a maximum prison term of five years.

In relation to the other main feature of the bill - the introduction of green cards - Mr Martin said he envisaged that a maximum of 5,000 would be issued per annum.

These will be issued to high-skilled migrant workers, with the minister having the power to specify how many and in what sectors they will be issued.

He also indicated that the main target sectors would include electronics, telecoms, finance, biotechnology, and the pharmaceutical industry.

The permits apply to non-European Economic Area workers.

Mr Martin said the accession of 10 new member states saw more than 100,000 people from new EU states come to Ireland in the past year. Because of that, the number of new permits issued has fallen starkly. Only 13,000 have been issued so far this year, two thirds of which are renewals.

The minister accepted that the inspection regime could benefit from "improved skill sets". He said the doubling of the Labour Inspectorate will ensure proper invigilation of abuses. He also said the full details of a previous departmental investigation into Gama that found no wrongdoing could not be published until after the full High Court hearing.

Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Phil Hogan welcomed the bill but said its comprehensive nature highlighted the lack of an overall immigration policy.

Exclusive reports highlight injustice of firms exploiting foreign workers

THE Irish Examiner has led the way in exposing the exploitation of foreign workers in Ireland, persistently highlighting the injustice of the work permits system which effectively kept workers in bonded labour.

(1) On February 23, Irish Examiner political reporter Michael O'Farrell exclusively revealed that Polish workers at the Dublin Port Tunnel were being paid half that of their Irish counterparts. Up to 40 Polish construction workers employed by Polish firm Format UMP, worked 58-hour weeks for just over €8 an hour. The agreed industry standard was between €13.16 and €16.44 an hour.

The Format contract also provided for no holiday pay, calling trips home "unpaid leave".

This practice is illegal under Irish labour law. Subsequent meetings between Format, SIPTU and the consortium building the tunnel, saw Format agree to comply fully with labour laws and make back payments to its workers.

(2) On March 24, Michael O'Farrell, together with Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins, exposed how between €20 million and €40m in Gama workers' wages was being held in secret bank accounts in Amsterdam.

Gama, a multinational construction firm, was accused of stealing millions of euro from staff each month, by underpaying hundreds of Turkish workers employed on State projects. The company admitted underpaying some of its 800 Turkish workers by 8% last year.

(3) On April 1, manager of Gama's corporate account, Hakan Tezel admitted that Gama had paid in monthly sums to worker's accounts in Amsterdam throughout their time of employment, without telling the employees.

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