Tropes of our time… June 19, 2012
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Economy, Irish Politics.trackback
I’ve mentioned the trope that is being employed by representatives of business everywhere these days. Take Restaurant Association of Ireland chief executive Adrian Cummins who has described the JLC’s and Registered Employment Agreements as ‘anti-business, anti-employer and a disincentive to job creation’. A disincentive to job creation. Or in its amended form, as used by Chambers Ireland’s Ian Talbot, it appears as ‘secure current jobs’. But it’s telling what Cummins then says:
“The sky hasn’t fallen down since last July, restaurants need to be able to employ people without the JLC barriers. We are as committed as ever to seeing the JLCs abolished, as we see it as an infringement of our members’ constitutional rights. We have highlighted time and again that Ireland’s minimum wage is among the highest in Europe. Countries not paying Sunday premiums include France, the UK, Germany and Spain,” said Cummins.
Some might think that was being a little coy. Low pay. Worse conditions. Simple!
The comment about JLCs breaching members’ constitutional rights is an interesting one. I wonder if he’s referring to members as individual citizens, or as companies (and if the latter, do they even have constitutional ‘rights’?).
Good question.
Invoking ‘constitutional rights’, as Cummins does, actually reveals a lot about where the small business, ‘entrepreneurial’ mindset is currently, and where it is likely to evolve to.
These are people used to absolutely uncritical commentary about ‘business’ and that leads to, I think, a kind of aggrandisement on the part of self-identified ‘entrepreneurs’. They, quite literally, can’t conceive of any understanding of life or reality that isn’t rooted in hierarchy, profit, the unquestioned dominance of business and business people over all aspects of social life etc, etc. There are a whole generation of college students being bombarded with the message that ‘entrepreneurship’ is the overriding imperative and nothing (like decent working conditions, decent wages, respect for employees) should be allowed to get in the way of entrepreneurs.
I would wager that Cummins and people like him would be shocked, genuinely shocked, to know that waiting staff, kitchen staff, cleaning staff all have constitutional rights, too. And that said constitutional rights are, in the first instance, exactly equal to the rights of the motley crew of scumbags looking to undo the JLC system. At any philosophical level and at any decent legal level the constitutional rights of a bunch of chancers looking for the cheapest labour possible wouldn’t have a chance against the rights of the low paid to a decent level of wages and decent conditions. Alas, in Ireland the beaks that would consider such questions would, without a shadow of a doubt, be more sympathetic towards the former group than the latter.
Agreeing entirely with your point, this focus on ‘constitutional rights’ is very disturbing. Very US inflected style of right politics.
An Taoiseach wasn’t the only one talking out his hat at Davos this year. Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Prudential (who have operations in the IFSC) told the forum that minimum wage in Europe is an “enemy” of young people and a “machine to destroy jobs”. He went so far as to blame minimum wage for rise of Le pen in France.
Interesting on the JLC that the National Employment Rights Authority found 79% of catering establishments inspected in 2009 were failing to comply with laws governing minimum pay rates, payment of wages and related employment protections. Presumably the money staff didn’t get came in handy for last year’s high court bill.
Catering workers are already the lowest paid of any sector in country. In 2008, they earned 16% less than the EU-15 average. Since then average weekly earnings have fallen by 7% according to Impact.
Most of the Quick Service Food Alliance continue to see profit year on year. Restaurants featured heavily or almost exclusively when people were naming and shaming those failing to pass on the VAT reduction last year.
+1