Paul Murphy: Defends Retired Workers' Right to Be Heard on Pensions
Paul Murphy spoke in support of a People for Profit bill to give retired workers the right to be consulted and access the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). He argued the bill responds to a decades-long "war on pensions" marked by the dismantling of defined benefit schemes and a shift to defined contribution plans.
Tribute and campaigners
He paid tribute to Deputy Smith, PVP activists and a long list of organisations and retired workers' associations who campaigned for the change, acknowledging retired staff associations and activists central to the bill.
Context - a war on pensions
He described decades of pension erosion, citing the scrapping of defined benefit schemes, downgrades to defined contribution schemes and that three out of every four defined benefit schemes have been shut. He warned these changes leave pensions to the "casino of the stock market" and insisted "pensions are deferred wages." He said Ireland can afford decent pensions and noted its wealth and high number of millionaires per capita.
Provisions of the bill
He set out that the People for Profit bill would give retired workers the right to be consulted in negotiations affecting their pensions and the right to take disputes to the WRC, putting retirees on a par with current workers and unions. The bill has been endorsed by retired staff associations representing hundreds of thousands of workers, Age Action and the Senior Citizens Parliament, and retired workers recently gathered outside the Dáil to press their demand.
Government delay and electoral warning
He criticised the government's plan to delay the measure by 12 months, calling it "justice delayed is justice denied," and warned Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael and Green TDs that voting to delay or silence retired workers would be recorded and remembered by active retired voters at the next election.
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Thanks. I want to pay tribute to Deputy Smith and the PVP activists involved in working on this bill, but in particular the various organisations, and it's an extremely long list, too long a list to read out, organisations of retired workers who have been campaigning and fighting on this issue and looking for this change. There is a crucial context to this bill, which is a context which appears in this stall actually quite regularly, which is what can only be described as a war on pensions over the last number of decades. You've had the scrapping of defined benefit scheme after defined benefit scheme being downgraded to yellow pack defined contribution schemes. Three out of every four defined benefit scheme has been shut as bosses try to evade their responsibility to provide decent pensions. The consequence of these defined contribution schemes is to leave people's pensions up to the casino of the stock market. Having worked all of their lives, all these workers want is the right to retire in security, in knowledge in terms of the kind of income that they'll have. We've seen by the government a similar reneging on responsibilities as they try to raise the pension age up to 67 and then to 68. I believe they still would like to do it, but were pushed back by the reaction they got during the general election. The government's strategy, as it is on so many issues, is to divide and rule. Young versus old, public versus private. When in reality, the division in this society is between the workers who create the wealth and then want to retire after having created an enormous amount of wealth, and those who benefit from that. Pensions are deferred wages. The right to a decent pension when you retire is one of the great achievements of the workers' movement historically, and one of the great achievements of the creation of social welfare states in the aftermath of World War II. The attack on the very concept and idea tells us a lot about modern capitalism and the priorities of the economic system. The truth is that we can afford a decent pension for all. Ireland is the fifth richest country in the world. We have the fifth highest number of millionaires per capita. And yet, the government and the right-wing economic commentators say it's a crisis because people are living longer, as opposed to being a good thing, that people are living longer, having created an enormous amount of wealth, and therefore should be able to retire in comfort. And the context of the bill is that many retired workers have found that after retiring, their pension rights have been whittled away through negotiations where they don't even have a seat at the table. We've had cases of direct cuts to benefits, freezes, and more. And yet, they have no avenue to speak out. Once they're out of the workplace for over six months, they can't even go to the WRC. All they're demanding is the right to be consulted and to go to the WRC. It's a very simple, very reasonable demand. They're demanding that retired workers are seen and heard when it comes to negotiations affecting their pensions. Because for too long, they've been locked out, the representative groups have not been included, and they've had no rights to take cases to the WRC or similar bodies. This bill from People for Profit would fix that by giving retired workers the right to have their voices heard, putting them on a par with current workers and their unions. It's been endorsed by retired staff associations representing hundreds of thousands of workers, as well as Age Action and the Senior Citizens Parliament. The message is clear. Don't gag retired workers. Give them a voice. And yesterday, retired workers gathered outside the Dáil, demanding that this retired workers' rights bill be supported. But now we hear that the government's plan is instead to kick the can down the road yet again with a 12-month delay. But justice delayed is justice denied. And we and the retired workers will not accept this stalling tactic. The message of the protesters to the government was clear. They may be retired workers, but they are active voters. And if the government delay and deny this change, they will not forget. Having worked all of their lives, they are demanding basic rights, and they will not put up with being told that they have to wait. So I'll finish by simply saying to every Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael, and Green TD who is thinking of supporting the government amendment, to think again. If you vote to delay this bill, if you vote to silence those retired workers, then you better think twice before asking them for a vote in the next election. How you vote tonight will be a matter of public record, shared with those pensioners in your constituency. If you deny them a vote, they very well may vote to deny you a dull seat in the next election.
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