SIPTU has strongly condemned the statement by Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke that the Government has abandoned 2029 as the deadline for implementing a Living Wage.
Referring to the announcement, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley, said: “By not substituting a new deadline, the Government has for all practical purposes abandoned the policy of a living wage itself. Hundreds of thousands of minimum wage and low-paid workers will now be expected to work for wages that fall short of an acceptable and adequate income.
“It is hypocritical in the extreme to talk about a workers’ budget, making work pay and providing support for workers who get up early in the morning, while at the same time removing the road-map to achieve these goals for the lowest paid in the economy.
She added: “The Government failed to mention this new policy in the Ministers’ budget speeches yesterday, while this decision to remove the 2029 deadline was buried in a lengthy Departmental briefing. The Government is trying to bury this bad news for workers.
“That it provided no evidence for this new policy shows how little this Government regards the living standards of the lowest paid.”
SIPTU calls on opposition political parties, Government backbenchers and civil society groups to state their opposition in the strongest possible terms and campaign to restore the 2029 deadline for introducing the Government’s living wage.