Polish Workers Break their Backs to Feed the Irish

A report in Poland's daily Gazeta Wyborcza newpaper that the Irish grocery distributor Musgrave Group has been exploiting Polish warehouse workers will come as no surprise to Poles who remember how their fellow countrymen and women also exposed unfair labour practices at Tesco distribution centres in Dublin two summers ago.

Though 'The Musgrave Group', Ireland's largest grocery distributor, has denied allegations that Poles are being exploited and discriminated against, it would seem that the evidence is a little harder to evade. The Irish Independent Workers Union published a report on Saturday outlining the malpractice of Musgraves towards their agency recruited immigrant employees. Irregular pay and threats if immigrants refused to work overtime were the two main problems immigrant workers face at Musgraves according to the research conducted by the union.

There have been all too many examples of foreigners being dealt with in an unjust manner by employers in Ireland. The Turkish workers at GAMA, Irish Ferries employees, the Polish construction workers at Eyre Square in Galway, Brazilians in meat factories - the list is endless.

Polish workers working at Musgrave's warehouse in Dublin were quoted by GB journalists saying that compared to Irish workmates they were being expolited.
One worker told the paper:

"We are treated worse than the Irish workers. We work for less money. We get about €10 (£6.80) per hour while the Irish get no less than €16 (£10.90). We get the most strenuous jobs and it hardly pays for overtime."

Musgrave spokeswoman Sue Lamon Diver said: "Allegations that we treat foreign workers worse than Irish nationals are absolutely and totally untrue."
In one such warehouse in Dublin, at Supervalu Centra Fonthill, immigrant agency recruits make up about 50% of the staff. A wildcat strike last April broke out from agency recruits in Musgrave warehouses as a result of the bad treatment. Musgraves spokesperson described the action as "unofficial stoppages" which had nothing to do with any maltreatment of Polish workers. Don't like to face facts, do they!

But Lamon Diver said: "We reject any claims that agency workers are discriminated against and absolutely reject any claims of harassment or bullying.

"This is not an ethnic issue we also have Irish nationals recruited by agencies."

The Musgrave corporation owns Centra and Supervalu in the Republic of Ireland, and Londis and Budgens in the UK.