Siptu president Jack O'Connor claimed last night that workers were facing the biggest threat to their wages and conditions since the 1940s.
He said that in more ways than one we were living through a remarkable period in our history, one which was laden with potential for good but one in which danger lurked as well. "We have unprecedented levels of prosperity but are also experiencing the most sustained assault on the gains made by working people here, and across Europe since 1945."
He told the Sinn Féin Ardfheis that the offensive was carried forward under the banner of market liberalisation, exploiting millions of vulnerable people who had no alternative but to work for half nothing.
This assault was conducted with the assistance of a neo-liberal creed that depicted the world as locked in a battle between the "good guys" and the "bad guys".
"The 'good guys' are consumers and the 'bad guys' are producers. The 'good guys' are champions of free choice and competition, while the bad guys are protectors of selfish vested interest in this virtual universe. Naturally, workers are among the 'bad guys'."
Mr O'Connor said that this was a completely artificial division of humanity because workers and consumers were the same people. "Like designers of video games, the neo-liberals have to erase certain realities to make this paradigm work.
"The most important of these is the inalienable right of every citizen in a democracy to a fair opportunity of experiencing a full, free, happy life."
Mr O'Connor said that despite our prosperity and being spoilt for choice as consumers, this was becoming increasingly difficult. Many things people took for granted in less prosperous times, such as occupational pensions, a 39-hour week, security of employment and being paid the rate for the job were being systematically dismantled.
We were witnessing a dramatic casualisation of jobs through bogus self-employment in some industries and the outsourcing of jobs in others to employment agencies who competed with each other in a relentless race to the bottom, driving down and undermining terms and conditions of employment.
Last week he saw a contract of employment in one of the State's premier industries, aviation, where a worker with an employment agency was paid "the princely sum" of €9.21 an hour.
In return they were obliged to work a shift roster which had no regard whatsoever for any entitlement to rest, relaxation or participation in family life.
