Builders claim they have not been paid in 4 weeks

The Department of Education has been asked to beef up its monitoring of compliance with employment law and wage agreements as another school building project faces industrial action.

A group of 18 bricklayers will mount a picket this morning at the site of a new community college in Lucan, Dublin, claiming they have not been paid in over four weeks and were locked out of their jobs after asserting their rights.

The main contractor, JJ Rhatigan & Company, did not respond directly to the claims by the workers’ union, Unite, except to say they are not true.

“JJ Rhatigan & Company feel it is inappropriate to comment in detail on this matter at this time as meetings have been arranged through normal industrial relations procedures in an effort to resolve the alleged issues. We would, however, like to state that the allegations contained [in the Unite statement] are completely untrue,” the company said.

Unite regional officer Tom Fitzgerald said the workers were left with no choice but to take industrial action in order to secure decent terms and conditions.

“Workers on Rhatigan’s Kishoge site have been forced into bogus self-employment, with some earning less than €5 per hour, below the statutory minimum wage,” he said.

Mr Fitzgerald told the Irish Examiner the members engaging in industrial action had initially worked for a subcontractor. He said the workers had never been paid the agreed industry rate of €17.51 an hour while working on the project.

“The contract that all main contractors enter with the Department of Education commits them to ensure proper industry rates are paid on those projects,” he said.

“We are calling on the department to stop turning a blind eye to abuses and conduct an urgent review of its compliance system to ensure the kind of behaviour Unite has witnessed in Kishoge cannot occur on school building projects,” he said.

The department said it was aware of an issue on the Lucan site and Contractors Administration Services had been asked to carry out an audit of the project.

“Should irregularities be uncovered in terms of non-compliance with employment law, enforcement and prosecution falls under the remit of National Employment Rights Authority,” a department spokesman said.

“Issues or grievances relating to pay and conditions of employment should be pursued through standard industrial relations channels.”

As a result of 13 audits carried out last year by Contractors Administration Services for the department, five projects were referred to the Revenue Commissioners, one to the Department of Social Protection, and one to the National Employment Rights Authority.