Wednesday, November 13, 2019
thecollegeview.com
. Est. 1999 .
Trispace catering staff seek better working conditions | Editor-in-Chief @BrendanFKP
C
atering staff at DCU sent a letter with their workplace grievances to DCU’s governing authority members. Trispace is in charge of the catering services in DCU. DCU’s website states they are “a company wholly owned by DCU.” The College View was given access to the letter by a Trispace worker who wished to remain anonymous. “Most Trispace workers are employed on part-time contracts. But even full-time employees are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. [The] vast majority of them are paid minimum wage,” it said. The anonymous worker said that some of the staff have been working with Trispace for over a decade and are paid minimum wage. The letter also detailed a number of issues with Trispace’s rostering system, which was described as “humiliating”. “Rosters are unpredictable and subject to change daily. Depending on company needs, hours are cut, sometimes drastically to just a few hours a week, and in other months, employees
are expected to work 15 or even 17 hours a day,” it said. A Labour Court hearing was held on November 6th, however the anonymous worker said the judge referred the case back to the Workplace Relations Commission. This was because conciliation had already started. Trispace responded to the worker’s letter with an offer to catering assistants. The company proposed a new starting rate of €10.10 an hour compared to the previous rate of €9.80. In addition, this pay would progressively increase by 20c for every additional year’s work - up to ten years. Thus, workers who have been with the company for 10 or more years would be paid €12.10 an hour. It is worth noting that the minimum wage was set to increase to €10.10, but was delayed by the government due to the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. Trispace also offered additional annual leave days for staff depending on how long they’ve worked for the company. “If a staff member wishes to accept the offer, the terms will be implemented in November’s payroll and will be backdated to 1 August 2019,” Trispace said in their response. “Please note, if the Labour Court further enhance the offer outlined above, any staff member
who has accepted the current proposal will receive the enhanced offer and will not be at a loss.” “SIPTU [Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union] doesn’t recognise this offer,” the anonymous
worker said. However, they added that some staff have accepted the offer. “They think you’re just a body behind a counter,” another anonymous Trispace worker told The College View.
Several members of DCU’s management were contacted by The College View for comment, but none were available before the publication of this issue.
Credit: DCU Rooms
Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque
DCU student Mehwish Saqib appeals deportation order to the High Court Aoife O’Brien | News Editor @obrienaoife1
D
CU University of Sanctuary student Mehwish Saqib has appealed a deportation order against herself and her family to the High Court. Saqib and her husband along with their three children were initially issued with the deportation order on Wednesday October 30th. They have appealed the deportation order to the High Court but a decision
Highlights
had not been made on the appeal at the time of print. DCUSU and DCU students gathered outside the Department of Justice and Equality on Tuesday November 12th. Speaking before the protest, Saqib spoke about her anger at the situation. “I feel like it’s so unfair. Living in direct provision is really difficult...we are struggling to make a good future and contribute to society and they saw our struggle and they ignored it.” Saqib and her family have been living in direct provision in Ireland for four and a half years and were initially
placed in the Old Convent direct provision centre in Co Mayo, where their youngest son was born. During their time in Mayo they were living in a shared house in the centre with three other families. “It is very cramped there,” Saqib said. “Everything was done in the same room, we were eating and watching TV and sleeping in the same area. “The laundry is full of clothes and the kitchen is too messy. I feel like I’m crying all the time because I live here and I can’t do anything about it,” she continued.
Saqib and her family applied for a transfer out of the direct provision centre in Mayo to Dublin so that they would have more opportunities and a year later the request was finally approved. They now live in the direct provision centre in Mosney and while they have their own house they were presented with new difficulties. “We are like a machine there. At 9 o’clock we have to pick the toiletries, if you don’t pick the toiletries then you can’t get them. At 3 o’clock we have to queue and ask for milk or bread or eggs or something,” she said.
Saqib said that she feels like they are expected to beg for everything that they need and described the constant routine as “humiliating”. Despite her difficult experiences in direct provision Saqib still hopes to remain in Ireland. “My hope is my children study here, we want them to make a life and career and have good jobs and have a good life,” she said. Returning to Pakistan is not an option for the family according to Saqib who fears her family will be killed if they return.
Comment
Gaeilge
Features
Sports
Sex Education
Lucinda Kinghan
The culture of shame and stigma about sex and sexuality in Ireland pg. 20
5v5 rugby tournament in Ireland
Meghan Markle How private can the lives of public figures be? pg. 12
An Feiniméan De ‘Jaws’
Tá an scannán ‘Jaws’ samhlaíoch agus an-chorraitheach. pg. 15
pg. 23