Sick Pay And Living Wage Reversal Shows Government’s True Face

The Fianna Fail/Fine Gael government, propped up by corrupt TD Michael Lowry, have agreed to a ‘pause’ an increase to seven days from five days statutory sick leave.

Jack Chambers and Peter Burke are also recommending to Cabinet that the much needed National Minimum Wage increase be paused for the next three years. It currently stands at just €13.50.

In three years time rents and the cost of living will have continued to rise but the wages of the lowest paid workers will remain frozen, effectively being cut.

The sick leave proposal wasn’t even an opposition bill, it was a government bill passed during the Covid pandemic. They’re breaking all the promises they made before the election.

What is clear is that the government has declared war on low paid workers who should learn a lesson from this - judge political parties by the class they represent not their promises.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are parties of the boss class.

What has the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s response been? They called the government move “shameful” but ICTU’s Laura Bambrick, while condemning the anti-worker u-turns of the government, said they were “right to focus on maintaining our position”.

This move by the govenment is bad news low paid workers, for migrant workers and young workers. By accepting the logic of the market the union leaders are allowing themselves to be beaten before we even begin a fight.

Workers don’t want to hear their trade union leaders justifiying government policy in any way, (however partially), we want our trade unions to start throwing their weight around instead of behaving like pro-business lobbyists. 

What do I mean by throwing weight around? Simple, ICTU has 800,000 trade union members. They could threaten the government with a spike of ballots from public to private sector shutdowns. 

They could mobilise the 190,000 low paid workers for a start. ICTU- talk is cheap, action speaks louder than words. When’s the protest movement start?

The boss’s union IBEC has been calling for subsidies in the wake of Trump’s tariffs. The bosses want to cut our wages while they get taxpayer handouts! We don’t think the government is right in any way. It’s a boss’s government.

This security officer from the Security Officers United campaign would gladly put my shoulders to the wheel and back a united, concerted, grassroots driven political and trade union strategy to smash the current anti-worker/working class government!

Join me in the Red Network!