This week in the Dáil Sinn Féin tabled a Bill which would protect workers who are on low hour contracts. These workers, mainly in the retail sector, are faced daily with precarious conditions, contracts which have them on 15 hours a week when they really work 30 and 40, conditions that make it next to impossible to plan for the future – kids, mortgage, childcare etc.
Sinn Féin’s Bill provides that a worker, or their union representative, would be entitled, after six months of continuous employment, to make a request to the employer to be moved to an increased weekly band of hours.
Last night Fianna Fáil, in a pathetic attempt to play politics with people’s livelihoods, indicated their intent to block this Bill when it comes to a vote on Thursday. Just like they did with the scrapping of water charges and reversal of bin charge hikes.