High Court rules in favour of fast-food operators on JLCs

national | worker & community struggles and protests | other press

Thursday July 07, 2011 15:20

by pat c

Law And The Courts Are For The Rich

The High Court has ruled in favour of millionaire employers. Setting a legal minimum wage for the Catering Trade is unconstitutional. Baling out the banks is constitutional, banning strikes is constitutional. Letting multinationals rob our national resources is constitutional.

But catering workers cannot be paid e9.65 an hour. Thats unconstitutional. But the millionaire employers are going to get compensation from the State! No money for hospitals, plenty of money for bankers and exploiters.

Its time to say Enough! http://enoughcampaign.org/
Join in the Enough Campaign, join in other protests.

High Court rules in favour of fast-food operators on JLCs

The High Court has upheld a challenge by fast-food operators to the constitutionality of laws setting mandatory minimum rates of pay and conditions for more than 190,000 workers.

Mr Justice Kevin Feeney today upheld the challenge by fast food operators to a system, established 60 years ago, of setting minimum pay and conditions for certain sectors of workers.

The judge ruled unconstitutional the laws under which minimum pay and conditions are set under Employment Regulation Orders (ERO) proposed by JLC's for approval by the Labour Court.

The judge granted declarations that the relevant provisions of the 1946 and 1990 Industrial Relations Acts are unconstitutional because they allowed for an impermissible excessive delegation of law-making power concerning pay and conditions to the Labour Court in the absence of any guiding policies or principles.

He ruled the fast food operators had established pay rates and conditions of employment were set for workers in the catering sector under a May 2008 Employment Regulation Order in an arbitrary and unfair manner.

John Grace Fried Chicken Ltd, Cook Street, Cork and its operator John Grace had established that ERO unlawfully interfered with their property rights under the Constitution, he found.

Mr Justice Feeney has adjourned to July 26th next the issue of damages for the fast food operators related to the May 2008 ERO, which was rescinded in 2009.

During the hearing, the court heard workers in the catering sector have the lowest average earnings across any sector.