Socialist Party action uncovers massive wage fraud
IRISH
SOCIALIST Party councillor Mick Murphy and Socialist Party TD (MP) Joe
Higgins have exposed a massive low-pay racket carried out by a
multinational company.
(Right, Joe Higgins Socialist Party TD carried on the shoulders of the Gama workers.
Pictures courtesy http://www.briangreene.com)
In doing so, they have lifted the lid on how the capitalist system
ruthlessly exploits workers in order to maximise profits. And they have
shown the importance of having socialist representatives who will fight
for working class people.
Gama, a construction company with major government and local
authority contracts in Ireland, has for years been working its migrant
workforce excessive hours – up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week [the
legal maximum is 48-hours]. They have been paying them as little as 2.20
euros (£1.50) an hour, instead of the 8 euros an hour claimed to have
been paid by Gama.
Speaking in the Dail (Irish parliament) on 8 February, Joe Higgins
questioned the Taoiseach (prime minister) Bertie Ahern about the plight
of these Turkish workers. He accused Gama of stealing millions through
underpaying these migrant workers – "What we have is master fraud,
grand larceny of workers’ wages," said Joe.
Joe addresses the Gama workers
Faced with investigation, Gama claimed it had deposited the rest of
the workers’ wages in accounts in a Dutch-based bank called Finansbank.
The workers knew nothing about these accounts, so last Thursday (31
March) Joe and Mick took four former employees of Gama to Amsterdam,
walked into Finansbank and, speaking to stunned bank officials, demanded
the workers access to their accounts.
One worker, Metin Kaplan, had 24,000 euros in his account! Yet he
knew nothing about the existence of this account. It is estimated that
as much as 40 million euros in workers’ money is deposited in Finansbank.
Part of the Gama workers demonstration
Afterwards, Joe commented: "We have uncovered some of the money
owed but the question of thousands of hours of unpaid labour and other
issues still remain.
"This case exposes the ruthless exploitation of workers with
this company using the shadiest of operations."
Gama workers protest strike
ON MONDAY 4 April at 10am around 300 workers from Gama sites in
Dublin walked-off in an unofficial protest at the company’s below
minimum-wage payments and wage fraud.
They were joined by Socialist Party TD (MP) Joe Higgins, and together
they marched to Leinster House (home of the Dail Eireann – Irish
parliament) and on to Liberty Hall, the HQ of SIPTU, the country’s
largest trade union. They were assisted by the Socialist Party who had
produced placards in Turkish.
The workers’ strike action shows that they had overcome the climate
of fear and intimidation as migrant workers living on site and were
demanding their rights.
How socialists made a difference
Interview with Joe Higgins Socialist Party TD (MP), Southern Ireland
IMMEDIATELY AFTER Joe Higgins and Mick Murphy returned from
Amsterdam, Joe spoke to the socialist to explain how Gama had ripped-off
its workforce.
"Gama began working in the country in 2000. It has contracts in
very prestigious projects e.g. power stations, road bypasses, social
housing, etc.
Gama workers’ celebrations begin
There had been suspicions over the years that Gama was paying very
low wages and working its workers very hard. But the company rejected
these allegations and they hadn’t been pursued.
Last autumn when three carpenters had a dispute with Gama in Dublin,
local Socialist Party councillor Mick Murphy went and spoke to them.
They related to him disturbing accounts of very low wages. Mick then
began to try to unearth the truth. This was very difficult because Gama
had created a wall of silence – having the migrant Turkish workers live
on site – and they spoke little English.
However, Mick got a leaflet in Turkish distributed with contact phone
numbers. Eventually the truth began to come out.
It transpires that before they came to Ireland from Turkey they were
told they would get food and accommodation and 2.20 euro an hour. Gama
worked them from 80-84 hours a week in summer [the European working time
directive states a maximum 48-hour week], paying 3.30 euro an hour
overtime and 4.40 euro on Sundays. A typical worker would have a wage of
maybe 1,000 euros after a month of solid work.
Investigation
When the department of trade investigation started, Gama ‘coached’
the workers on what to say to the inspectors. ie that they had been paid
the trade union rate, that they worked 48 hours only, and that they have
another account at Finansbank, Holland, with money paid in.
This was the first the workers knew about this bank. Myself and Mick
decided to take four former employees and turn up unannounced to the
bank on Thursday (31 March) in Amsterdam. Sure enough these workers had
accounts in their names! They had amounts of money ranging from 24,000
euro down to 4,500 euro.
It seems that the workers had actually signed documents opening the
accounts but the documentation was in English.
Joe joins in
It was given to them to
sign before they left Turkey. They lacked confidence to ask what it was
they were signing for fear of not being employed. No copies of this
contract were provided to the workers.
We reckon there are somewhere between 1,000-2,000 workers that have
left Gama and gone back to Turkey at various times who have accounts at
this bank in Holland but are not aware of it. As much as 30-40 million
euro of the workers’ money could be held in that account.
Questions
The balance between the slave-rate paid and what a trade union rate
would be for 48-hours work – was obviously a cover for the company if
there was an investigation.
But both the company and the bank have many questions still to
answer. These workers’ accounts were sitting there untouched, no worker
had enquired about them. So Finansbank must have known what was going
on, so we will be asking the Dutch central bank and government to have
this situation investigated.
The next unresolved issue is notifying all the workers that have
money there. The bank has conceded that the workers can do what they
wish with their accounts. We wait to see if this happens.
There is still the issue of the massive hours worked of unpaid labour
which would be of two to three times of what is in that bank. We will
pursue a number of actions in this regard – including legal
action."
Regular updates on the Gama scandal are on the Irish Socialist
Party’s website www.socialistparty.net
Show solidarity with GAMA workers. Send protests to: Managing
Director Hakan Karaalioglu, Gama Construction Ireland Ltd, Northwood
Park, Santry, Dublin D9. Fax: 00 35 31 1862 9698.
Please send copies to: Michael Martin, Minister for Enterprise Trade
and Employment, 23 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Fax: 00 353 1 631 2815.
email: [email protected]
Please email solidarity messages to the GAMA workers (via Joe Higgins
TD) to:
Election
