Poles paid 50% less than Irish Port Tunnel workers

POLISH workers on the State’s largest construction project, the Dublin Port Tunnel, are being paid half that of their Irish counterparts under a contract under investigation by Government labour inspectors.

The workers all employees of Format Industrial Construction Ltd also receive no holiday pay, no overtime payments and are terrified that speaking up will result in them being sacked and sent back to Poland.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner through a translator, Format workers said they were paid €1,935 a month before tax a figure which equates to just over €8 an hour for a 58-hour week. Those rates are backed up by Format contracts.

The agreed industry standard, received by all construction workers in the tunnel, is roughly twice as much between €13.16 and €16.44 an hour.

According to the workers, they do not receive any wage slips but are instead shown a sheet to sign every month. The practice of not giving wage slips is illegal under Irish labour law.

"If you don't sign you have 14 days and you go home. People don't have a choice," said one worker.

Although workers are given free accommodation and flights home at Christmas and Easter, SIPTU estimates that the Polish workers still earn €1,000 less than their colleagues.

Companies that include accommodation costs as pay can only legally discount a maximum of €32.14 a week from a worker's wage.

Format's Irish representative, Edwin Aviles, declined to answer detailed questions, saying there had been a misunderstanding.

The labour inspectorate of the Department of Enterprise last night launched an inquiry into the issue.