This article is from page 3 of the 2006-03-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
A UNION has claimed that 66 Polish contracted workers at Moneypoint power station have been paid well below the minimum wage.
The ESB confirmed that an internal audit had shown up a problem with workers’s sub-contractor, ZRE Zatowice.
At a news conference, the union said the workers received €5.20 per hour. The welders and fitters were working on the €200m retrofit operation underway at Moneypoint.
A spokesman for the ESB has said an internal audit by the company on wages had shown irregularities.
“This ESB investigation concluded with the signing of a memorandum of understanding involving this subcontractor and the relevant main contractor, following an acknowledgement that there had been breaches of agreed wage rates,” he said.
“This Memorandum of Understanding commits the contractor to rectifying this situation. Implementation of the terms of the Memorandum will be subject to an extensive audit, scheduled to take place before the end of March, he said.”
At all stages, the union TEEU was involved.
Kilrush County Councillor Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG) has said that it was not sufficient to have an auditing committee set up between contracting parties.
“The onus is on the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment to have an active inspectorate in place that circulate regularly throughout the country to ensure this form of employment does not occur,” she said.
“It is completely unacceptable that any worker would be exploited in Ireland.
“The state needs to be more vigilant,” she added.
Cllr Brian Meaney (GP) is requesting that legal action commence against companies operating not complying with basic of Irish labour legislation of paying the minimum wage.
“A blind eye has been turned to the alleged breaches of Irish labour legislation occurring in Clare. This should not be accepted. The full weight of the law should be applied as Irish subcontract companies are losing out and Irish workers are being displaced.”
The clean-up currently underway at Moneypoint is necessary to allow the station operate past 2008 in order to comply with a licence granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requiring that pollution levels be drastically cut at the station, which supplies one quarter of the State’s electricity.