Open Letter from Anthony Coughlan __________________________ TO: Ms Aine Lawlor Morning Ireland, RTE, Dublin 4 Wednesday, 14 December 2005 Dear Aine Lawlor, I was amused to hear you interview ICTU's David Begg on "Morning Ireland" today re the Irish Ferries dispute and to hear him expatiating on what he termed the problems that arise from merging an Irish labour force of 2 million with an East European labour force of 70 million. The thought crossed my mind that maybe you would suggest that David Begg was encouraging "racism" and "racist" sentiment by drawing attention to such problems. I remember well your putting this suggestion to me when I tried to draw attention to exactly this situation in an interview with you on the same programme at the time of the second Nice Treaty referendum in 2002. I sought to point out on that occasion that merging a labour market of 2 million with one of 70 million would lead to significant immigration to Ireland from the poorer countries of Eastern Europe, that this would inevitably have a downward effect on Irish workers' wage-rates and working conditions, and would make it difficult to maintain even the minimum wage rate for many people working here. During the Nice referendum I also remember David Begg implying that it was encouraging "racism" to suggest that it would be difficult to maintain high-quality wage and working conditions in face of significant immigration, when he and I spoke together at the Magill Summer School in Donegal. Mr Begg and such other Yes-side worthies as Proinsias de Rossa and Minister for Europe Dick Roche produced ludicrously low estimates at that time of how many workers would come to this country if we were one of only a handful of EU States to operate an "open door" policy from Day One of EU enlargement. See some of their estimates below. They threw insults about "racism" and "racist" at anyone who questioned their dogmatic assurance that no serious problems could arise. The problems arising from Gama, Irish Ferries, the widespread violation of our minimum wage laws in the construction and some service trades etc., are occurring in a context where Ireland has an economic boom and there are plenty of jobs available. Can you imagine how hard it would be to maintain Irish workers' wages and standards in the event of an economic downturn? Being unable to prevent downward pressure on Irish workers' wages and working conditions due to their uncritical embrace of uncontrolled EU immigration, David Begg and others will now fall back on seeking to maintain the Irish minimum wage level, even though many immigrants are willing to work for less than that. Trying to maintain different national minimum wage-levels in a 25-Member EU in which there is total free movement of labour is a bit like trying to enforce one minimum wage rate in Kerry, but a different one in Limerick next door, and a different one again in Tipperary and the other Irish counties. One can attempt it with an army of Labour Inspectors, but widespread evasion is inevitable. I can imagine the day will come when some attractive Czech and Polish radio presenters, as articulate as your good self but willing to work for less money, will appear on RTE's current affairs programmes as a result of the station being affected by "the bracing winds of competition" in the labour market which David Begg and others have helped let Irish workers in for. In late 2002 I was present at the National Forum in Europe in Dublin Castle when David Begg told those present that he supported the proposed EU Constitution. This was before that Constitution had even been signed and when its final provisions were not yet publicly known. Mr Begg's commitment of support was given without any policy discussion on the matter in ICTU's affiliated trade unions. If the French had voted Yes to the EU Constitution last summer and we had had the referendum on it that was planned for here in October, one can be confident that Mr Begg would have been urging Irish workers to vote for it, with much fatuous talk about the "European social model", only for them to regret bitterly doing that later when it was too late. I am sending copies of this letter for their information to David Begg, Cathal Goan, the producer of "Morning Ireland" and various other trade union and media people who will remember the shameful way some elements of the Yes-side behaved in discussing migration during the 2002 Nice Treaty referendum. Yours sincerely Anthony Coughlan Secretary P.S. In today's "Irish Independent"(p.14) economics correspondent Brendan Keenan, writing under the heading "Amazing immigration flow poses challenge", states that 66,000 foreigners applied for Personal Public Service Numbers to work in this State between May and October this year, an average of 11,000 per month, nearly all of them citizens of the new EU States. _______ QUOTES ON EAST EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION FROM THE 2002 NICE TREATY REFERENDUM: " There is no reason to believe ... that large numbers of workers will wish to come" [Minister for Europe Dick Roche, I.T. Letters, 12/7/2002 ] _______ "Mr. X also repeats the line propagated by the No to Nice campaign that only four countries are to permit immigration after enlargement. This statement grossly misrepresents the position of the other member states." [Dick Roche, I.T.Letters, Aug/Sept. 2002] _______ "Ireland will be in precisely the same position as all other member states on the question of free movement following any enlargement of the Community." [Dick Roche, as reported in the Irish Times, September 2002) __________ "It is the view of the Irish Government and a number of other governments that this idea that there is going to be a huge influx of immigrants is just not supported. The evidence is just not there for it. They are not going to flood to the west. The same rules are going to apply in all 15 states. There is no evidence to suggest that the people of the Czech Republic or Poland are less anxious to stay in their home as (sic) we are. [ Dick Roche, transcript of interview with The Irish Catholic, 19/9/2002.] ___________ " It is a deliberate misrepresentation to suggest that tens of thousands will suddenly descend en masse on Ireland." [Proinsias De Rossa, I.T. Letters, 20/8/2002 ] ____________ " The expected trickle of immigration to Ireland will on balance benefit the Irish economy." [P. De Rossa, I.T. Letters,20/8/2002 ___________ " I estimate that fewer than 2,000 will choose our distant shores each year." [P.De Rossa, I.T. Letters, 20/8/2002 ] ____________ "There is no evidence there would be a problem with free movement of workers on accession." [Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Dail Eireann,10/9/2002 ] ____________ "Efforts have been made to foment fears that migrants from the new member states could flock to Ireland. This is not only unpleasant but plainly wrong." [Brian Cowen, Sunday Business Post, 7/7/2002 ] ____________ "Ireland is already benefiting from the skills and energy of workers from the applicant states, about 7,000 of whom received work permits last year. There is no basis whatever for expecting a huge upsurge in these numbers." [Brian Cowen, Sunday Business Post, 7/7/2002 ] ------------------- " The second myth is that the Nice Treaty will mean mass immigration from the new EU member countries in Eastern Europe. This is probably the most odious of the myths propagated by some in the "No" campaign." [Minister Willie O'Dea, Sunday Independent,Summer 2002] ___________
Filed under: EU Economy, EU Enlargement & Integration | Tagged: immigration, labour, workers | Leave a comment »
NationalPlatform.Org 