Deafening silence on plight of low-paid immigrants
A statutory body revealed recently that 40% of complaints submitted to it came from migrant workers, an over-representation of fourfold or so on their actual distribution.
What complaints? Illegally low pay, enforced long hours, personalised harassment, summary dismissal.
A bad employer holds all the cards, in which case we are looking all too quickly at bonded servitude. And what political party, what professional or institutional group, what men of the cloth are willing to raise their heads above this parapet and be seen to protest?
Remember, these workers have come to Ireland in most cases to fill identified gaps in our labour market.
The main RTÉ television evening news didn’t even bother mentioning this report, though its radio counterpart did better. I scrutinised two of the main daily broadsheets: nothing; non-event, non-issue. Surely this could only mean ‘non-people.’
This ugly black blot under Irish skies comes directly under the remit of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister Micheál Martin who rarely, if ever, speaks publicly on the ’employment’ part of his ministry nowadays.
We don’t even get vague good intentions about distant Oireachtas Acts from Micheál any more. He didn’t even condescend to reply to any one of three letters, each complete with newspaper cuttings, which I, as a constituent, sent to him on the broad issue of migrant workers’ rights.
Opposition politicians don’t go near this one - beyond the very odd fleeting protest from the Labour Party. Leave it to Joe Higgins, or forget it.
Some chance, indeed, of the conscience of self-proclaimed and Charlie-anointed socialist Bertie being stirred to ‘noble rage’ here. And this is all post-GAMA.
Clearly, in this confederacy of opportunism, the politicians don’t see any votes. Maybe they’re wrong. Maybe we’re being short-changed, maybe a large number of Irish people would react positively to a foray of real leadership for a change. The churches also seem all too passive since their dignified and thought-provoking comments on the citizenship referendum of June, 2004. The trade union movement, and SIPTU in particular, seem to be the only real voices for fair play here.
Doubtless they see pragmatism as well as principle here, as it is clear that with any future recession Irish workers’ pay levels will have been undermined. The theme ‘wealth accumulates while men decay’ has been a frequent one since Goldsmith’s time and well before. I believed most of what I read and heard so constantly about selfish, materialistic modern Ireland.
This until my mother’s disablement in recent years when I couldn’t but see the stunning generosity of time, effort and spirit of her friends and neighbours in Youghal and the constant helping hands offered freely everywhere we went in Ireland.
Kind and decent Ireland hasn’t gone away yet, you know. But, as a fine Corkman once said, “caithfimíd labhairt ar son daoine, nach féider leo labhairt ar a son féin” - or else see our silence translated as collusion.
Risteárd Pardi
56 Beechwood Park
Ballinlough
Cork
