Polish workers shortchanged €600,000

UP to 70 Polish workers employed at the ESB power station at Moneypoint are owed an estimated €600,000 in wages after a probe found they were being paid less than a third of the agreed hourly rate.

The ESB confirmed yesterday that irregularities, dating back to December, have been found in the salaries paid by a Polish sub-contractor carrying out work on a €350m project.

It followed claims by the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union that there was “blatant exploitation and abuse” of some Polish fitters and welders at the ESB power plant by their employer, ZRE Katowice (Ireland) Construction, a wholly owned, Irish subsidiary of a large Polish construction firm. The trade union claims pay slips issued by the company show workers were getting just €5.20 per hour, compared with the legal minimum wage of €7.65 per hour.

TEEU general secretary, Owen Wills said such a figure was in clear breach of Irish employment legislation and a registered agreement that workers would be paid €18.97 an hour, as well as a weekly subsistence allowance worth €157.09.

Mr Wills said an investigation by the TEEU showed one worker had received just over €1,000 a month for a 52-hour week with no overtime rates or deductions for PAYE or PRSI.

The union’s regional secretary, Pat Guilfoyle, said seasonal employment for local craftworkers had ceased since ZRE Katowice had begun work at Moneypoint. The TEEU also expressed concern that similar abuses may have taken place at another ESB power plant at Shannonbridge, Co Offaly, where ZRE Katowice was also engaged in a three-year project.

Last night, the ESB said an internal audit of all contractors working on an environmental retrofit project at Moneypoint had shown there had been breaches of agreed wage rates by the company. An ESB spokesperson said ZRE Katowice had since signed a memorandum of understanding which committed the firm to paying the proper wage rates, including all outstanding back pay.

“Any failure to pay the agreed rate in future will constitute a breach of contract,” said the ESB spokesperson who said it would investigate whether there had been any past breaches by ZRE Katowice at its Shannonbridge plant.

As a result of the controversy, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin has instructed his department’s labour inspectorate to carry out an investigation of ZRE Katowice. “Any breach of labour legislation is unacceptable,” said Mr Martin.

No spokesperson for ZRE Katowice could be contacted for comment.