Bríd attacks Minister over minimum wage and Government support for Uber

People Before Profit TD, Bríd Smith, clashed with Minister Mary Mitchel O’Connor at a meeting of the Jobs and Enterprise Joint Committee on Thursday.

Deputy Smith rounded on the proposed 10 cent per hour increase in the minimum wage proposed by the Low Pay Commission calling it “embarrassing” and an “insult”. She also told the Minister that the area’s most given to low pay, such as retail and hospitality had experienced large increases in profitability and turnover in recent years, as highlighted by a minority report of the Low Pay Commission.

The minister was also asked to explain why the IDA was supporting companies such as Uber who have a record of usurping labour laws and worker’s rights across the globe. The Taxi App company are embroiled in court cases in a number of countries over their insistence that workers are not employees of their companies but “service suppliers”. As such the company is not bound by minimum wage rights or other labour laws.

Deputy Smith told Minister O’Connor that it was a disgrace that the state should in any way support a company renowned for trying to bypass workers’ rights legislation. She also questioned why the IDA was also providing support for other so called ”client” firms such a Coke Cola, Amazon and Credit Suisse and requested a detailed breakdown of what support the IDA was providing to these.

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