Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, spoke in favour of his party’s Right to Access Bill in the Dáil.

The Sinn Féin Bill seeks to ensure that trade unions have unhindered access to their members in the workplace.

Deputy Crowe said:

“The large scale industrial disputes sweeping across the country show just how timely this Bill is. The right of trade union representatives to engage with its members in the workplace should not be feared, but embraced in 21^st century Ireland. It is not a radical idea and is a right afforded to workers in many countries and those that lead the way in terms of an inclusive society.

“Sinn Féin’s Bill mirrors the Australian and New Zealand model. It is a model which works effectively and is supported by employers groups and trade unions in those countries. It is rightly seen as an opportunity to avoid conflict in the workplace and to promote a more inclusive relationship between an employee and the employer.

“Why would anyone oppose this approach?”

Crowe continued:

“Sinn Féin believes in strong, robust, fair, and effective employment rights. We believe in the right of workers to organise, to join a trade union, and to be represented by a trade union. We support the right of workers to collectively bargain and see this as inextricably linked to trade union recognition.

“The current voluntary system has worked for some but failed many. Some unscrupulous employers engage in campaigns of bullying, harassment, and intimidation. They do so because they can assert that type of power over an employee.

“Most decent employers would run a mile away from such tactics. Those who value their employees have nothing to fear from strengthened labour laws. Those who seek to bully, routinely ignore industrial relations laws, and ignore our industrial relations mechanisms, do so to protect their narrow interests over those of their employees.

“Some large retail multiples and multi nationals totally ignore existing labour and work relations committee recommendations. Rights and fair employment practice would overnight alleviate the conditions their workers have to endure on a daily basis.

“In my view a successful economy is one that values those who contribute and add to it. A successful employment rights infrastructure is one that operates on the basis of equality and a level playing field between the worker and the employer.

“A Republic is only a Republic in name if it does not protect the rights of citizens, and central to this has to be the rights of all those people in the workplace.

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are opposed to this approach and they have indicated that they will shamefully vote down this Bill. They clearly have no empathy or any real understanding of the pressure workers are facing in some workplaces.”

ENDS