In a comment below, Miranda wants to know what I think about the Irish Ferries dispute. I have to admit I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the ins and outs of this one, but I guess I wouldn't be going too far out on a limb to say that the company could have handled this better.
My free market instincts and my sympathies for the eastern Europeans who are getting the new low paid jobs have me leaning towards the company, but it's not quite so simple as that. It is almost always those who are not earning a whole lot who lose out when low paid immigrants or cheap imported goods make the local labor or product too expensive. It's all well and good for talking heads to ramble on about "upskilling" or the "knowledge economy", but not everyone is cut out for "upskilling" or the "knowledge economy". I also have sympathy for those who feel threatened by the eastern European workers.
I have no idea how true it is that the company could collapse. I can't see how this would benefit the company or the workers. I'd like to imagine that a reasonable solution can be found.
I do have one question related to this dispute, however. Anytime I've flown with Ryanair, most of the cabin crew were not Irish or British. I've thought that many of them were eastern European. Do those employees get the same pay as their Irish or British colleagues?
