Sir, – The Opinion piece by Angela Ruttledge (October 31st) refers directly to me and my research into the working conditions of hospitality workers in Ireland (Weekend Review, October 26th).
I am delighted much of the article lends support to my own research findings, although this may not have been the intention. Ms Ruttledge admits the hospitality industry may be especially susceptible to bullying and harassment, and to witnessing “harassment of others by employers, by customers and by employees (as well as by agents of the State)”.
In disputing some findings of my research (based on the testimonies of 257 people working in the industry) Ms Ruttledge makes statements with little or no evidential support such as: “employees are well-versed on their rights and rightfully willing to insist on them”, and “the proposition that employees are afraid they will lose their job just doesn’t stack up”.
Ms Ruttledge appears to be a good employer in hospitality, and there are many, but I reject some of her comments. I do not paint “business owners in hospitality as tyrants”, nor “tar” all of them “with the same brush”. On almost every platform I have been given I have stressed that I know examples of good practice. Indeed Ms Ruttledge’s establishments may belong to that category. The next phase of my research plans to highlight cases of best practice to show what can be done.
It is true that employees in Ireland benefit from a broad suite of employment rights, but this research indicates many are not aware of their rights, and where rights are infringed they are very unlikely to have the confidence and resources to pursue those rights at the Workplace Relations Commission, where the respondent (the employer) is likely to show up with a solicitor or barrister.
The research I have spoken about is based on the testimony of 257 hospitality workers. In communicating the findings I am but the messenger for those who (to date) have had no voice and who courageously and generously shared their experiences. When Ms Ruttledge attributes the statement to me that “there is an endemic culture of ill-treatment within the industry and unfortunately an acceptance by workers that there is nothing they can do or this is how it is”, she neglects to add the following three words as a precursor – “the research indicates”.
This project is part of ongoing research with the joint purpose of exploring levels of ill treatment in the sector and working with interested stakeholders to make changes.
Finally, I agree with the title of Ms Ruttledge’s piece. Restaurant staff are not helpless victims. If we are prepared to listen to their testimony and their extensive ideas for how the industry could improve, they will have helped not only themselves but the industry as a whole. – Yours, etc,
Dr DEIRDRE CURRAN,
Lecturer,
JE Cairnes School of
Business & Economics,
NUI Galway.