Paris Bakery workers call for action not words from Minister Bruton
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Paris Bakery workers were in the Dáil to hear Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD respond to their plight on Tuesday (27th May). The workers had been occupying the Moore Street bakery in Dublin for five days in an attempt to recover almost €100,000 in unpaid wages and entitlements owed to them by employers Yannick Forel and Ruth Savill.
The Paris Bakery workers wish to clarify some of the inaccurate statements made by the Minister.
Anissa Hosany, one of the locked-out workers, stated:
“Firstly, the Minister said that the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) was currently in touch with us. Unfortunately, while a representative from NERA spoke with one worker last Friday, we have had no contact from them since then.”
“Secondly, the Minister seems unaware that a number of my fellow workers have taken cases to the LRC and won, but have still not received anything from our employer. Just like the rest of us, they’re still waiting for what is owed to them.”
“I don’t think the Minister understands the urgency of our situation. One of my colleagues is homeless and others have young children to feed and rent to pay. They can’t wait six months for a decision from the LRC. We need assistance now.”
“The Minister said that there are solutions if both the employer and the workers can come to agreement, but our employers are not engaging with us at all. They are refusing to even speak to us.”
“We’ve now received sympathy from both Minister Bruton and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, the two Ministers with the most power to help us. We’re very grateful for their words, but what we really need is action.”
“As far as we’re concerned, this is not an ‘industrial dispute’ as the Minister called it. This is theft of wages that we have earned and if we had robbed €100,000 from our employer we would be in jail right now.”
SIPTU Services Division Organiser, John King, has expressed the union’s full support for the workers protest. He said: “The treatment of these workers in this way is nothing short of disgraceful and should be roundly condemned. This situation presents the clearest reason why workers in this country must have strong robust employment protective legislation to protect them from such exploitative practices by unscrupulous employers, circumstances that unfortunately are too common an occurrence in certain sectors of our economy.
#ParisBakery Workers Solidarity Fund
Many people and organisations have offered to support the workers’ occupation of Paris Bakery, so the workers have asked MRCI to facilitate a Paris Bakery Workers Solidarity Fund. You can contribute through PayPal or by bank transfer – account details below. Please clearly state PARIS BAKERY WORKERS or PBW on the donation; if you have any problems, you can email hilary@mrci.ie, our Finance Manager. This money will be used for essentials for the workers during the sit-in: food, water, transport, bedding, protest materials, etc.
Account name: Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
Address: Allied Irish Bank, 37 Upper O’Connell St., Dublin 1
Sort code: 93-11-36
Account No. 17766133
IBAN No: IE58 AIBK 9311 361 7766 133
BIC No: AIBKIE2D
Any funds remaining at the end of the occupation will be used by MRCI to assist individual workers to access their rights and entitlements. The workers have asked MRCI to support them through this difficult process and we are glad to be able to do so'
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