Employers ‘blacklisting’ workers

Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton has finally accepted that those who are out of work for more than 12 months “will find it very difficult to get a job”.

This is all the evidence we need of a stereotypical attitude among employers regarding who they employ — but there are more sinister reasons why people are out of work for long periods.

The notion of long-term unemployment is a nonsense and clearly there is plenty of work there for some people — they are never out of work. The truth about many, but not all, long-term unemployed people is that major problems have developed for them in the workplace and very serious steps have been taken against them. It may not be their fault, but they sure reap the wrath of employers who are completely out of control with power and importance.

Blacklisting is a profound problem for the long-term unemployed. This issue should be made known in a country of narrow-minded people with a very authoritarian mentality, that seeks to wipe anybody off the face of the earth if they happen to incur an employer’s displeasure. Many employers have a network of fellow employers that crush any employee who happens to buck their oppressive system. Stories of workplace intimidation, abuse, and suicide attempts are only the tip of the iceberg in the Irish workplace.

Blacklisting is very likely to be the main reason why many people are “long-term” unemployed. The building trade was notable for the practice, but extends to office workers and every other corner of the workplace. Employment in this country is seen as a privilege by many employers who seek to destroy any employee if they do not get exactly want they want, irrespective of any job title or description.

Steps against employees are orchestrated, going so far as to hire their own security people who will gather intelligence on a particular employee to enable them to take vicious adversarial steps to remove them from the workplace permanently.

Some rogue employers will even go so far as to get an employee fired from a position (if he can duck under the radar of the blacklist) to get a job after he or she is dismissed, and get him sacked.

Undoubtedly, the phenomena of long-term unemployment can be explained outside public dogmas associated with lack of education or skills. Is there any reason why people should be decades out of work in an area where they could be virtually nobody out of work? The reality is that their employers think that employees are their own personal property, which they can dispose of as they wish, and go so far as to direct them as how to live their lives by the totalitarian culture in their workplaces.

Our blacklists and job blacklist databases need to be crushed by our Government so our long-term employment problems can be tackled at the root of its cause.

Maurice Fitzgerald

Shanbally

Co Cork