The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is to raise the case of Paris Bakery workers, who are owed over €100,000 in unpaid wages, holiday pay and other entitlements, at the annual conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in Geneva today.
In an address this afternoon to the International Labour Conference of the ILO, Irish Worker Delegate and Congress Legal Affairs Officer, Esther Lynch, will raise the case of the Paris Bakery workers, who are now on the 13th day of their sit-in at their workplace, in order to secure payment of the €100,000 they are owed.
Addressing the theme of Fair Migration and Decent Work, Ms Lynch will inform delegates that:
"We currently have a situation in Dublin where a number of migrant workers are on the 13th day of a sit in at their workplace – the Paris Bakery – having been forced to do so in order to secure payment of some 100,000 in unpaid wages due to them.
'they should not have to do this to win what they are owed."
The ILO is the agency of the United Nations charged with promoting rights at work and dialogue on work-related issues. Member states of the ILO meet annually in Geneva, at the International Labour Conference.
Congress has also previously called on the Irish Government to close the "legal loophole" that allows employers to walk away and leave workers unpaid when a business runs into difficulty.
"Informal insolvencies" - where an employer ceases trading but does not wind up the business - are not covered by existing law and workers have no rights when employers walk away.
Similar problems have arisen in recent years with Vita Cortex, La Senza, HMV, Game, Thomas Cook and Connolly Shoes.
