ESB controversy - A shameful exploitation of workers

WITH thousands of Irish workers losing their jobs as international firms relocate to the sweatshop economies of Asia, the pay and conditions of employees in Ireland are also at risk of being eroded by the shameful exploitation of immigrant workers.

Up to now, debate about the treatment of workers has centred principally on the controversies involving the Turkish-owned Gama group and the Irish Ferries policy of hiring of cheap foreign labour.

But it now emerges, according to ESB union TEEU, that Polish workers are being paid €5.20 an hour by ZRE Katowicz, a Polish contractor involved in a €350 million refurbishment programme at the ESB Moneypoint power plant in Co Clare. This contrasts with an agreed minimum hourly rate of €18.97 for craft workers.