A call for work permits to be scrapped in favour of a green card system to help combat exploitation of migrant workers has been made by the Labour Party.
Announcing a new policy document on employment standards yesterday, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said Ireland must not build the next phase of its economic development on "low-wage enclaves".
The party is seeking a range of measures, including increased resources for the labour inspectorate and a Revenue clampdown on the use of "bogus" sub-contractors in the construction sector.
It is claimed an increasing number of construction employers are avoiding pension and other obligations by classifying workers as self-employed.
Labour also wants to see registered employment agreements, which provide for legally-binding pay and conditions in some sectors, extended to wider areas of the economy.
And it says contractors working for public bodies should be required to meet minimum labour standards, "in order to avoid a repeat of the Gama situation".
Scrapping work permits, the party says, would ensure migrant workers were not bound to particular jobs and had freedom to move between employments.
The Employment Permits Bill, published by the Government last June, proposes a green card-type system for highly skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area.
However, lower-skilled workers would continue to require work permits linked to specific jobs, as at present.
Green cards are different from work permits in that they allow holders full freedom to seek jobs within specified areas of the economy.
Labour enterprise spokesman Brendan Howlin said yesterday the Bill was "highly divisive" in that it created a "lower category" and an "upper category" of worker.
While those with green cards would be allowed to bring in spouses and children and live normally, work permit-holders would continue to be subject to "total exploitation", Mr Howlin said.
This was "quite wrong" and the Labour Party would seek to have the Bill amended when it came before the Dáil, he added.
Mr Howlin welcomed the Bill when it was published last year, although he did say it would require careful scrutiny during its passage through the Oireachtas.
Labour policy: main points
• Increased resources for the labour inspectorate
• Scrapping of work permits in favour of green-card system that does not bind workers to particular jobs
• Revenue clampdown on the use of "bogus" sub-contractors in the construction sector
• Contractors hired by public bodies to be required to meet minimum labour standards
• Registered employment agreements, providing for legally-binding pay and conditions, to be developed and extended
• Support for the proposed EU temporary agency workers' directive, opposed by the Government to date
• Significant changes to be sought in the proposed EU services directive, in particular the "country of origin" principle
• Extension of equality legislation to cover people in domestic service
• Collection of better data on labour market to accurately measure the extent of job displacement and "wage degradation"
