Analysis: An increasing number of migrant workers are turning to unions for assistance against unscrupulous employers, writes Chris Dooley
Ireland has more to do, it seems, to get itself a bad name among the workers of Europe. In spite of a succession of high-profile cases of apparent exploitation of migrant workers, the Republic's reputation as a welcoming land of plenty appears to be intact.
Some negative stories have sprung up in the Polish media, says Malgorzata Kozik, consul at the Polish embassy in Dublin.
"But mostly the picture of Ireland is that it is a place of enormous opportunity and limitless jobs. People in Poland still believe it is a paradise here."
And that picture is not entirely unfair, she points out. An estimated 50,000 Poles have emigrated to Ireland since the EU expanded on May 1st last year, and for many the experience has been a good one.
"We have heard stories of very good employers, not just in terms of paying their workers properly, but employers who take an interest in their staff and care about their welfare," she says.
But there is no escaping the reality that a significant number of Polish and other migrant workers have found Ireland to be anything but a paradise.
Ms Kozik hears the stories, sometimes daily, sometimes weekly, from desperate Polish people.
It is common, she says, for Polish citizens who complain about their working conditions to be sacked on the spot. Many turn up at the embassy impoverished and seeking assistance in getting home.
Employers know that there are queues of Polish people lining up for work and believe they can act with impunity. "I now advise people who come to the embassy to find another job before they complain," Ms Kozik says.
Many of the grievances she hears relate to pay, such as employers' failure to pay overtime or the proper Sunday rates.
Discriminatory treatment of migrant workers is another common complaint. "I frequently hear about Polish workers having to work on Sundays while Irish workers are off."
The construction and catering sectors appear to be among the biggest offenders, she says. Siptu's midlands and south-east regional secretary Mike Jennings adds another: horticulture.
Many mushroom farmers, he claims, have replaced part-time Irish female workers with eastern Europeans as a source of cheap labour.
Mr Jennings says the case of Gama Construction is exceptional in that it involves an allegation of sophisticated exploitation, with money being held in Dutch accounts.
"That's not the norm. Without pre-judging the Gama case, the reality is that most cases of exploitation are brutal and crude."
However, he does not believe the situation has become worse since Ireland opened its doors to workers from the new EU states after May 1st, despite all the recent negative publicity.
Rather, the fact that citizens of those states no longer require a work permit means they are more likely to come forward and highlight exploitation, he says.
They have less to lose by complaining to employers, who can no longer threaten them that they could lose their permits and face deportation.
An increasing number of workers are also turning to unions for assistance, and Siptu now has 10,000 such workers on its books.
Mr Jennings, however, says he is "beginning to despair" at the State's failure to address adequately the continuing problem of exploitation.
He would like to see a fivefold increase in the number of labour inspectors, currently 21, employed to weed out unscrupulous employers. Prosecutions are rare and the fines imposed are paltry, he adds.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment says much is already being done, and new work permit legislation is on the way.
Its employment rights information unit handled more than 146,000 calls in 2003, it points out.