Unite construction members recoup almost €500,000 from rogue employers in 2019

January 14th: Unite’s construction branch, which represents workers throughout Ireland’s booming building industry, today (Tuesday) revealed that the union secured €487,000 for members during 2019.  As well as payments made on foot of employment rights cases taken on behalf of members, the union successfully pursued a number of employers for failure to pay the ‘rate for the job’ stipulated by Sectoral Employment Orders.  The figure does not include personal injuries cases taken on behalf of members, including one settlement of €1 million.

Commenting, Unite Regional Officer for Construction Tom Fitzgerald said:

“Although we recouped nearly €500,000 for construction workers last year, this is just the tip of the iceberg.  By definition, we can only take action when we become aware of cases – and workers who are not organised in unions are likely to be unaware of their rights and unsure of how to vindicate those rights.

“The money we secured for workers went straight back into the economy, benefiting us all.

“These wins again demonstrate that workers organised in effective trade unions are the best bulwark against rogue employers”, Tom Fitzgerald concluded.