Migrants earn 31% less than Irish-born workers

MIGRANT workers from non-English-speaking countries earn up to 31% less than Irish-born workers.

Also, some non-Irish women working here are getting an even bigger raw deal, earning 14% less than their male counterparts.

The figures were revealed yesterday in a report commissioned by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

The report consisted of a number of briefing papers examining all areas of inequality and was carried out as part of the designation of 2007 as European Year of Equal Opportunities.

It found that, taking into account education and work experience, immigrants earn 18% less than native workers, rising to 31% for those from non-English speaking countries.

ICTU Assistant General Secretary Sally Ann Kinahan said inequality also affects home grown workers.

The 14% pay difference between men and women was being exacerbated by the absence of comprehensive childcare provision — forcing women to stay at home for longer periods of their working life. As a result, women are absent from senior roles and over-represented in low-paid, part-time work with poor advancement prospects.

Equality Authority chief executive Niall Crowley told the conference there are huge shortfalls in Ireland’s approach to equality, which explained the findings of the ICTU report.

He said there was not enough resources being put into the equality infrastructure such as the Equality Tribunal, and that equality legislation itself was nowhere near as advanced as in other countries.

The briefing recommended an obligation on employers with 10 or more employees to publish a periodic equality audit.

“Where an audit showed a significant disparity between groups covered by the equality grounds, the employer would be obliged to draw up a pay equity plan in negotiation with trade unions,” said the paper.

“The failure of an employer to conduct an audit should be admissible in evidence in any equality pay claim.”

ICTU President Peter McLoone questioned the motivation of the Government to act on the betterment of worker rights.

“There is still ample evidence that when push comes to shove, the needs of the market still carry far more clout with our Government than workers’ rights,” he said.

Mr McLoone said workers have become used to political and business leaders telling them that equality and equal opportunities are now embedded in Irish society, simply because legislation has been enacted outlawing discrimination.

“Legislation sets the rules of the game, but without major policy shifts and a fundamental change in mindsets, we cannot pretend all our citizens share the benefits of economic success. The rising tide does not lift all boats. That’s a myth propagated by the rich and powerful and those who exploit every opportunity to increase their personal and corporate wealth, often at the expense of others.”