Forced labour in Ireland too?

Ex-employee of Award-Winning Poppadom Restaurant still waiting to be paid €86,000 award 

Muhammad Younis, originally from Pakistan, has been awarded €86,000 by a Rights Commissioner, following an official complaint about alleged breaches of employment rights. However Mr Younis’ex-employer, Mr Amjad Hussein trading as Poppadom, has not yet paid the award. The Labour Court yesterday (September 12th, 2011) ordered Mr Hussein to pay the compensation.

Muhammad Younis worked for Mr Hussain for seven years from 2002-2009. He was paid well below minimum wage and worked extremely long hours (77 hours per week) with no day off. He was forced to work without a contract of employment, no tax, or social insurance contributions being made, and was subjected to threats. The employer also failed to renew Muhammad’s work permit which rendered him undocumented in the State. He was forced to share a house with nine other workers in very poor conditions. He had to endure these degrading conditions for many years.

Welcoming the Labour Court decision, Muhammad said, ‘The exploitation I suffered put me in a deep, dark well. I felt I had no hope for my future and no way out. I have been living in a hostel for two years now waiting for my case to be sorted out. I am away from my family, jobless and I am owed a lot of money for my work. I am suffering because of the bad treatment I was subjected to. All I want now is justice. I am thankful that the Labour Court made this decision today. I hope we can highlight this problem so that the government will act.  A law against forced labour would make sure that other workers do not have to suffer in the way I did.’

The restaurant industry is one of the sectors where non compliance and exploitation are ongoing issues and where forced labour is a serious problem. Ms Grainne O’ Toole of the Migrants Right Centre Ireland, who assisted Mr Younis with his claim, said, “We welcome the Labour Court’s decision but the real challenge now will be to ensure that Muhammad actually gets paid. We have dealt with many cases over the years of severe violations of workers’ rights which constitute forced labour. Yet the most we can do is assist people in getting back wages. The government needs to introduce a law to criminalise forced labour, protect victims and give greater powers to the labour inspectors and the Gardaí to tackle this serious problem. This would ensure greater compliance in sectors where forced labour is a real problem.”

MRCI can be contacted through Delphine O’ Keeffe at 087 241 0039