Meath women, Carol Mc Sherry and Kay Kearns, called for a review of legislation to bring redundancy payments in line with current wages at last week’s biennial conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Speaking to over 600 delegates in Belfast’s International Convention Centre, Kay Kearns said a political campaign was need to bring redundancy payments into line with today’s wages.
The current maximum ceiling of €600 has not changed since 2003 and does not reflect real wages in the economy or the huge cost of living increases in the last two decades. According to the Central Statistics Office, the average Industrial wage in 2004 was €645 per week. Now it is €969. She said: “In July of 2023, when Tara mines in County Meath ceased production and went into care and maintenance, 650 direct workers were temporarily laid off, exposing a weakness in social protection measures, as these workers could only receive an average of €220 per week on social security benefits.
Carol Mc Sherry, Kells, seconding the motion
”If they lived in Sweden for example, they would have received 90% of their average incomes. Trade unions representing Tara mines workers were instrumental in having this anomaly addressed by way of new legislation linking job seekers benefits to a worker’s previous earnings.
“There can also be no argument that we are living in precarious times with the threat of tariffs coming from the US and the threat to jobs from the adoption of Artificial intelligence. Workers must be protected from these economic ‘shocks and adequate redundancy payments must reflect current wages.”
Carol Mc Sherry is a Special Needs Assistant and told delegates of her personal experience of the psychological impact of redundancy and job loss. “In 2016, several SNAs in my school lost their jobs because of a reduction in allocation of SNA hours. One of them was a very good friend. We set up a summer camp for our pupils because we missed working together. We split the earnings when we finished but my friend bought me a necklace. I asked her why and she said that when she lost her job she lost her confidence, and the camp had given her some of that back.
Losing your job has a huge psychological impact, on top of the worry about keeping your family financially afloat. Thankfully due to the work of Fórsa union SNAs now have redeployment as of this year. However, thousand face this scenario thanks to AI and uncertainty about tariffs and economic nationalism.”
