SIPTU has called on the US catering group Aramark to respect workers' right to a living wage and to negotiate collectively with their employer. SIPTU Organiser, Denis Hynes, said: “Aramark is a growing player in the food service sector in Ireland. This week it announced it is buying the Avoca chain of luxury retail outlets and cafés for a figure that it believed to exceed €60 million.“That the company is able to afford such an expansion is due to the hard work of its employees, the majority of whom are paid the national minimum wage. The company has refused to even engage with its employees’ trade union at the Workplace Relations Commission to negotiate a fair living wage for its workers.“Instead, Aramark is cutting workers’ hours of work to fund the small increase in the minimum wage that it will have to pay from January 2016. SIPTU is calling upon the management of Aramark to respect its workers and negotiate with them a fair share of its increasing profits.”Aramark employs over 3,000 workers in Ireland providing catering services to the public and private sector.