The former employer of a Pakistani national awarded damages over breaches of his employment rights has not yet paid the compensation, a protest last week highlighted.
Muhammad Younis was awarded €92,000 in unpaid wages by a Rights Commissioner following an official complaint about alleged breaches of employment rights. But Younis’ former employer, Amjad Hussain – trading as Poppadom – has not yet paid the award despite the ruling and order from the Labour Court.
Younis and his supporters protested outside the take-away branch of the Poppadom chain at Newlands Cross last Thursday evening to call for the payment of the money owed to him, and to raise awareness of the exploitation he says he experienced.
Younis said: “I suffered at the hands of my ex employer. I am protesting to show the public what is happening to workers and to again ask Mr Hussain to pay me my money.
“I was treated like a slave. The exploitation I suffered was very cruel. I have nothing now. I will keep protesting until I get justice.”
Dublin Mid-West TD Robert Dowds TD joined Younis to support his call.
“Like most people, I was under the impression that slave labour was consigned to history,” he said. “That does not seem to be the case, with more and more cases of forced labour coming to light.
Dowds added that it was “simply unacceptable that any person is treated in this way” and said he has urged the Government to legislate against forced labour in Ireland.
Gráinne O’Toole of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) echoes his sentiments.
“We need the Government to tackle the problem of modern day slavery,” she said. “In Ireland, there is no legal punishment for this injustice. Therefore, the only avenue open to [Younis] was to pursue breaches of employment law.
She added: “The Government recently stated that they would address the anomalies in the law to criminalise forced labour and were treating the situation as urgent. We are calling on Minister Alan Shatter to act now to protect victims against this heinous act.”
