Tomorrow morning thousands of workers from Dunnes Stores will go on strike across the country. They do not want to do this but they are being forced. This reflects a broader casualisation of the workforce, a regressive trend towards lower pay and less security of hours. The strike tomorrow is essentially about low-hour contracts that have become the norm in certain sectors of the economy. It is about a simple abuse of power that a major employer is exercising over thousands of employees. I do not say that lightly.

Some 76% of the company's workforce is now working so-called part-time flexible hours. Some 70% of those in that workforce are women. The employees face uncertainty each week. They experience a fundamental lack of security and cannot plan their lives. There is no decency at the heart of the relationship between this employer and the workers.

I have met some of the workers. What was most disquieting was their fear that they could be punished by their employer simply for meeting me. That was said. It is like going back to the 19th century. We are to celebrate the centenary of the Rising next year. The Government's programme in this regard was launched yesterday. I asked myself the basic question as to whether employee rights are going backwards in certain sectors. Employees cannot obtain mortgages and cannot even get car loans. Worst of all, the system is used to control workers. They are threatened with a reduction in hours if they are not on-side and do not play ball. Sick pay is orchestrated and is almost non-existent. There is limited holiday pay, and so on.

All the workers are seeking are banded-hour contracts, which Marks & Spencer, Tesco, SuperValu and Penneys have all given. It is very regrettable and shameful that an Irish employer does not see fit to give them.

Most people in this House, including me, support basic decency. I have a basic question for the Taoiseach: does he support the Dunnes Stores workers who are going on strike tomorrow? I ask him to say he does and to articulate clearly a loud message that should be articulated by everybody in this House: we will not tolerate this abuse of power over employees.

Will the Taoiseach introduce a fair working hours Act to stop this abuse of workers? The existing legislative safeguards are no longer adequate to stop what is going on. It must stop, and the message must be sent out that if the current practices continue there will be legislative response to ensure they do not.

On the occasion of the launch by the Government of the Low Pay Commission, which is being handled by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, its Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, and specifically the Minister of State, Deputy Gerald Nash, I had a brief meeting with the representative from Mandate Trade Union, who explained to me the position of the workers in Dunnes Stores. I support certainty and the right of people to know from their employer what hours they are expected to work each week, in so far as that is possible. Deputy Martin is aware that the Low Pay Commission has already started its process of meetings. It will report in July and the Government will act in response to that.

The Minister of State, Deputy Gerald Nash, is dealing with the question of zero-hour contracts. Deputy Martin mentioned a fair working hours Act. I will wait to see the response and proposals of the Minister of State. It is not for me, in the position I occupy, to say whether the strike should take place. This is not the first time these kinds of circumstances have arisen. As the Deputy pointed out, other stores have had to deal with this matter. They dealt with it clearly in the interest of their workers, with a view to their having clarity and confidence in respect of their working futures. I am clear that the workers in Dunnes Stores deserve no less. They need to be told by their employers what the week and month ahead hold and, in so far as possible, what the time ahead holds. I hope the mechanisms that have been in place for quite some time apply here so people will not have to go on strike. I hope the employers in this case can understand the consequences of not providing clarity to the thousands of loyal workers who provide services to those who shop in the stores daily.

The reason I ask the Taoiseach to say he supports the Dunnes Stores workers unequivocally is because I genuinely believe a message must go out to the employer in this instance. As a former Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I know all the usual processes and mechanisms. Dunnes Stores has refused to engage with the Labour Relations Commission or Labour Court, or to adopt its recommendations. It has refused flatly to engage with the workforce representatives, as recommended by the Labour Court. There comes a time when everybody should stand up for basic decency in terms of that relationship. The experience of the workers demonstrates excessive abuse of power over the workforce. As legislators, we cannot stand over what is going on. Everybody has been rostered for Thursday, deliberately. Even those who might have hospital appointments have been rostered, deliberately, to put them behind the eight ball, so to speak, or put them under pressure such that if they do not turn up there may be consequences for them. That is what is being said on the ground to the workers. It is intolerable and unacceptable.

With the greatest of respect to the Low Pay Commission, I do not believe it will deal with this. I have not read any proposals from the Minister of State, Deputy Gerald Nash, that will apply to this issue right now. The most powerful message that could go out would be a message from the Taoiseach stating he supports the Dunnes Stores workers and that the management should do what others have done, that is, apply the very basics. The requests were quite minimal. No one is looking for an earth-shattering change, just very basic rules so workers can at least plan their lives with some degree of dignity and decency. There is an absence of dignity and decency at the heart of how Dunnes Stores is treating its workers.

Let me be clear. It is not the intention that the Low Pay Commission or the work Minister of State Deputy Gerald Nash is doing in respect of zero-hour contracts will deal with this particular problem.

I am simply saying that is a measure of Government because of a concern about clarity and the future of everyone who is a low-paid worker. That is an important issue that is being attended to now by Government.

In respect of this issue, I support the Dunnes Stores workers in having a right to clarity in so far as their working lives and working weeks are concerned. I would hope that this strike does not have to go ahead. As the secretary of Mandate trade union explained to me, this happened or was about to happen in other stores and a decision or conclusion was reached that was satisfactory for the workers in terms of giving them clarity about their week's work and their working lives. I hope the strike does not go ahead. I support the workers in their right to have clarity about their working lives. Therefore, the message to the employers is that this can be sorted out. These workers are loyal workers. They provide services every day of the week on a 24-hour basis. That should be recognised.

The company is making vast profits as well.

I wish to make it clear that Sinn Féin supports the Dunnes Stores workers and the right of all workers to a living wage. The Government does not support this concept. The Government has an aversion to equality. The Government stands with the elites and against citizens.