War over wage cuts

War over wage cuts


Hotel chief makes plea but SIPTU dismisses job creation claims

Edwin McGreal

Up to 300 extra jobs could be created in the hotel industry in Mayo if hotels in the county are allowed to pay the national minimum wage seven days a week.
That claim was made last night by Fergal Ryan, Chairman of the Mayo Branch of the Irish Hotels’ Federation as discussions over wage reductions continue at Cabinet level. However, SIPTU Sector Organiser Michael Kilcoyne, who is also a county councillor, has dismissed Mr Ryan’s claim as ‘baseless’.
Ryan argues that ‘archaic’ Joint Labour Committees (JLC) are keeping wage costs unfeasibly high. At present, hotel workers in Mayo receive a minimum payment of €9.09 per hour, according to Ryan, who is Manager of the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris. As hotels in Dublin and Cork are exempt from the JLCs, employees there are entitled only to the national minimum wage - €7.65 until last Friday, now increased to €8.65.
Furthermore, argues Mr Ryan, staff in Dublin and Cork hotels are not entitled to a Sunday premium while workers in the rest of the country are. He outlines how staff at his hotel earn a minimum pay for Sunday work of €12.40 an hour whilst staff in Dublin and Cork just receive €8.65 per hour.
“On Sundays I have to pay 30 per cent more in wages than my Dublin counterparts,” Mr Ryan told The Mayo News. “It is very hard to remain competitive when that anomaly exists. One hotel per week is closing nationwide. In Mayo we will do okay now because it is summer time but come November, we will really start to feel the pinch. I can count on one hand the number of Mayo hotels trading successfully at present.
“If we keep walking on hotels, they will close and employment will be lost. Currently, out of every €1 we bring in, 45c goes out on wages. There would be huge fanfare if 250 jobs came to a factory in Mayo; if the JLC was abolished, together with Sunday premiums, a cut which the International Monetary Fund are pushing for, it could create 300 jobs in the county’s hotels. Staff I currently have are stretched and I would rather have more staff, less pressure on them and provide a better service to the customer.”
However SIPTU Sector Organiser Michael Kilcoyne dismissed claims that the cutting of pay to hotel workers would lead to extra jobs.
“There is talk of additional jobs but there is no evidence that that will be the case,” he told The Mayo News last night. “Most places didn’t have extra jobs before double time pay came in so what would make you think that this would be the case now in Mayo?,” he asked.
He also argued that, from his experience, many Dublin hotels were ‘highly unionised’ and staff were receiving a minimum there of above the JLC rate of €9.09. Furthermore, he argued that, despite Fergal Ryan saying that Dublin hotel workers were not receiving time and a third on Sunday, this was a direct contravention of an EU directive in this regard. The Galway based official who lives in Castlebar, said that hotels Elicit little sympathy.
“It is an industry with no pension, no sick pay and holidays at a minimum. I have no sympathy for the industry, save for a few minor good employers. They talk about wage costs but if there is people who made hay from the industry, it is not the workers. Over-capacity in the Irish hotel market is the problem and that was forced purely by greed. Anyone who tried to tell the hoteliers and the developers that the good times weren’t always going to roll were run over,” he added.
Currently the Minister for Enterprise, Richard Bruton TD, is bringing to cabinet a proposal for the reform of the JLC structure, which applies to a number of industries beyond the hotel industry, in place since the 1940s. Minister for State with responsibility for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring TD feels that such reform will help the tourism sector in Mayo and beyond.
“To be fair to the hoteliers, they are being asked to pay wages based on old regulations. Also, nowadays, it suits a lot of people to work weekends, rather than during the week. To be fair to Richard Bruton, he has pushed for this and it will be discussed at cabinet. My understanding is there will be some agreement found, perhaps not a complete abolition but an agreement nonetheless,” he told The Mayo News.