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LOW WAGES, NO breaks and zero-hour contracts: these are just some of the challenges facing bar workers today. While sales and profits for publicans soar, staff in the industry are not getting their fair share.
Seasonally adjusted figures show that sales in the bar trade are up by over 10%, but many of Ireland’s 50,000 bar workers are experiencing poverty pay and rampant exploitation – a far cry from the quality jobs and decent pay they had only a generation ago.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how far the conditions of employment in the bar trade have deteriorated since the financial crisis began because of the limited data available.
However, the most recent figures published by the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and the National Employment Rights Authority (Nera) paint a stark picture, showing:
Preliminary results from an ongoing survey on conditions in the industry conducted by Mandate campaign barworkers.ie show many bar workers are still exploited, faced with:
What is perhaps more illustrative are the comments left by bar workers themselves.
One bar worker told us: “I worked in a well-known pub and restaurant in Dublin city for €9 per hour. The bar was extremely busy and I was constantly run off my feet, but during an eight-hour shift I would receive absolutely no break.”
Another said: “I work in a late night bar in Dublin city for €10 an hour on a zero-hour contract. I receive my roster one day in advance of the week starting and the roster changes throughout the week.
“It makes it impossible to plan my life and my financial situation is always completely unpredictable. Every month is a scrape to make rent.”
In some cases, breaches of the law are blatant and yet workers are afraid to “rock the boat”. Another respondent wrote: “I don’t get holiday pay or sick pay so I haven’t taken an actual holiday from work in two years, bar a day or two here or there. I can’t afford to pay for a holiday and also lose out on two weeks of work.”
Worsening conditions
In the past, trade unions and employers represented by the LVA would sit down and negotiate rates of pay and conditions of employment for all workers in the trade.
It generally meant bar workers had a decent living wage, with compensation for working unsociable hours and an avenue to enforce their entitlements. It also lessened competitive pressure on employers.
However, the LVA walked away from this process several years ago, stripping workers of their right to have issues settled through collective talks. This has led to poverty wages and insecure hours, all benefiting the employer at the expense of their employees.
When major pubs in Dublin and across the country make millions in profit, bar workers too should be able to share in their success.
The new Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015 provides for sectoral agreements which could drastically improve employment conditions for those in the bar trade.
The framework it establishes could see pay, overtime rates, allowances for unsociable hours and much more being set through talks between employers and workers.
That’s why this new campaign has been established by and for staff in the industry. Bar workers should be a respected and valued asset for the establishments they work in, particularly given the extent to which Ireland markets the pub to overseas visitors.
If you’re out at your local this weekend, tell your local barman or barwoman to visit barworkers.ie and together let’s lift the working conditions for all in the trade.
John Douglas is general secretary of Mandate, the trade union for retail and bar workers.
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Amazing. All the unions are out of their rabbit holes now. Ask you union rep how much of a paycut did they take over the last 8 years. You will be amused to find out their wages have increased over that time
They deserve a bonus for all the sh!te they have to listen to late at night
Well Ger I see plenty of mercs and bmws around the place these days… Plenty of money in this country and glad to see some pockets of workers are growing a pair and looking for better conditions… If other workers want to do nothing to improve their situation that’s there’s choice. They need to realise that an average worker who says nothing gets nothing.
And those who stay in a job they think they are underpaid in should get a better job. That’s the only proof they were underpaid in the first place.
Far too much sense of entitlement these days. A job in a bar is a job in a bar. It’s simply not a complex well paid professional role like a Luas Driver.
And wouldn’t it be great if their union rep was on the average industrial wage as well Allister? Not starting at north of 80k.
@Allister: You see plenty of people signing-up to silly PCP deals to drive a 161! The ability to finance the depreciation on a vehicle does not = a capability to pay staff over the odds. The pub business in this country is really struggling.
Well leave them alone then Alan
“That fella has a merc! I should get paid more for unskilled work because … look at richie rich over there!”
FFS. I was working behind a bar at 16. It took all of 2 weeks to learn to serve most any drink and to change kegs, gas etc. Someone more senior would do the tills, cashing out etc, and got paid more than me. Supervisors and managers opened up and locked up and got paid more again.
What to people honestly expect for serving drinks? I was getting about £3.50 for suburban bar work when I started in 1998/1999, and about £4.50 in 1999/2000 for city centre nightclub work. In other words, about 1.5 times the price of a pint of Heineken. Seems about consistent with inflation.
I’d imagine every pub in the country has no shortage of people willing to work. Every day some 18/19 year old will walk in with a CV looking for work, and they only need a few weeks training. My experience was that you start on a low rate and get 50c to a euro afterwards when you’re competent.
Like conscription, everyone in Ireland should work in a bar for a year.
I wouldn’t use the term undervalued for barstaff, ever!
That’s good – and funny.
The red thumbers took their stupid pills today alright.
I’m referring of course to alphanautica
Ronan. People deserve not to be on zero hour contracts. Not just in the bar trade but in any trade.
Medal parade for Ronan!, I wonder how you would cope in a modern day Niteclub Ronan with all the different drinks and cocktails on offer?, some bar staff would not get home till around 5am by the time they clean up and then be back in the next morning to open up, go home for a few hours and then back in later on for the busy night shift, this is common practice and all for the lowest wage the employer can get away with!.
Would you stand for that when you were working as a barman?, many just accept this through gritted teeth because they need the money most other jobs available in todays Ireland come with similar credentials.
@Ronan there is a difference between doing a job to earn money as a student as opposed to having it as your income to pay rent and the cost of actually living. In countries like the US a barman is considered to be a trade and remunerated accordingly – the big difference of course is that americans appreciate this and tip accordingly.
People like you seem to think because you worked a little bit in the local for a basic wage that somehow that means that everyone for ever more should as well… i don’t think employers should pay more especially if things are tight – but a cultural shift in peoples attitudes is key exemplified by your glib attitude.. tip the person who serves you pocket change to you obviously but tallied together a living wage for a barman
What a load of coddswallop, there are thousands of bars around the country supported by just one elderly person. So if the bar trade is such a fantastic business then where are the younger generation to run them and let the older folks retire with some dignity. In the town where I live there are three bars closed in recent years because the owners have died and two remaining which are run by elderly widows.
Maybe they don’t want to open bars in the middle of nowhere, Chris. It’s a sad reality that young people are leaving rural areas – either by emmigrating or moving to bigger towns/cities – so not enough customers to make running a business in some places viable.
Ireland always had a problem of small towns having too many pubs anyway.
My brother in law works as s trade unionist. His pay, perks and pension are incredible. He still moans about his job though.
@William Boyd,
Like I said, I worked in a bar and I worked in what was then one of the busiest nightclubs in Cork. It was as tough then as it is now. Just as messy, just as many bottle bins to empty.
Array of cocktails? Give me a break. No different to a suburban pub on a winters night when someone orders an Irish coffee or a hot port and suddenly everyone thinks its a great idea.
If anything bar staff are far worse than they were in my day. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen staff in a city center bar or club take more than one order at a time. God forbid some ould lad drinking alone would give them a nod for another Guinness, they’d think he was saying hello not calling his next pint.
@Old Gabby Johnson,
If you’re trying to pay rent and live from bar work you’re on a hiding to nothing. For non supervisor/manager roles it should be a stop gap. Anyone I worked with who was not a student had a day job and did the nightclub/bar work for extra money.
I have sympathy with those on zero hour contracts and I’d like to see employees protected. I also have no issue with bar staff looking for a living wage. It’s a crappy job – but it’s never going to be more than a crappy job.
You can’t unionize and elevate all these crappy jobs to the point that everyone can afford a 3 bed semi in Dublin. The cost of those houses, rent, and other cost of living elements will increase because there will always be someone with the flexibility to spend more on renting that convenient apartment/room if the wages are higher.
Similarly, you can’t demand high wages for a job that a Spanish student can learn in 2 weeks and will provide flexibility around shifts. There’s too many people that are happy to take flexible bar work – unsociable as the hours are, they’re perfect for students, and that creates demand for those positions at any wages.
pay the minimum wage and they should all be dam glad to get it. fire regularly to focus the minds also
Actually I know of several bars in the middle of nowhere that do quite well as bar/restaurants. There are opportunities for people who are prepared to work hard and build a reputation.
Why shouldn’t they get paid a living wage and have a rota in advance so they can have a healthy work/life balance? Someone has to do this type of work, and there aren’t enough high-skill jobs for everyone. Some people will always have to do the low skilled jobs, why should they have to scrap by?
So it’s perfectly OK then to exploit the bar workers.
Bar work actually use to be a trade, where you’d get an apprenticeship just like you would to be an electrician or a plumber, wonder when it died off.
Well said
I suspect you either own a bar or are a bar manager. I smell a rat with you.
I did an apprenticeship. Got ripped off. Short changed every week in my wages. Worked up to 60, to 70 hours per week and only got paid for forty.
Well said Nautica
Yes exactly. You not study for it. Its like a simple job everyone can start so i think its should be the minimum. As why they have otherwise a minimum. If they do well they earn tips as well. If they pay them 16 euros an hour I will go back to my waitress job too. 10 euro is very reasonable
Yes exactly. Why should a 19 year old get paid 35k to work. Or an older person that didn’t study get paid that. In the office they pay more but only for skilled people. Not for the basic administrator of 19th years. They all get 9 or 10 euro an hour and no permanent contract or sick leave.
And what about the positives? It provides employment to thousands of young people funding their education, who prefer casual style employment. It can be a second job for many people.
So that excuses slave labour then Vincent?, not all bar staff are exploited but many are!
The answers is strong unions supported by all within the industry.
Entrepreneurs will always work to reduce costs and without unions employees will never be in a strong negotiating position. The decline in industry standards is due to the fact that the unions pulled out.
Many publics leveraged their good business to gamble on other industries they knew nothing about. With no unions to protect the employees a free fall took place with the main people who lost being the employees when the debts were called in.
Balance is created by the unions and the fact that their are no longer any in the hotel and bar trade has left entrepreneurs free to buy their labour at a minimum price with labour freely available thanks to the European experiment.
I can’t verify if you are right or wrong on that comment. Slave labour by some union standards reckons a 54% pay raise is needed. For some people bar work is their career and for others it’s an extra but of money for study etc… There is always a flip side to any debate
I was under the impressions that the 54 per cent was a figure leaked by the company to the media in the luas strikes in order to strengthen their negotiating hand.
On my understanding the real problem is the insistent by the company that a two tiered driver policy be put in place and that waves are secondary to ensuring a fair working environment is continued?
I am a country publican in a west of Ireland holiday resort, for 19years. We charge €4 a pint. I have never had a Christmas, Easter, or Bank Holiday off with my family. We struggle to pay massive mortgage, insurance, rates, energy bills, Sky, IMRO and other over heads in the off season. Every year we sponsor local Golf Club, GAA Club, Soccer Club, Festival, Agricultural Show, Tidy Towns, Marketing Group and various other charities. We employee local, pay more than minimum wage plus a drink or two when they finish work. This is union b…. Please do not tar us all with the same brush.
Anne I don’t think they are tarring you all with the same brush, fine you appreciate your staff but the fact is many bar staff are been exploited so why would you have a problem that these issues are been highlighted?.
Staff often won’t speak out for fear of losing their job or becoming a target for the bosses ire for daring to speak up for themselves.
Sad to say Anne you’re probably the exception that proves the rule. My partner often worked in a late bar from 2pm to 2am was lucky to get a 10min break. And they charge closer to €5 a pint!
Fair play for doing right!
Not every pub ‘makes millions’ the journal always assume every pub in Ireland is located in temple bar or harcourt street. Try check on a local pub that doesn’t charge €8 a pint and see how much they make at the end of a year, I bet 9/10 of them is a loss.
The nurses and care workers wages should be looked after first by unions. You know what you get when you sign up to be a barman, they don’t.
Pull up that ladder Stephen!
At the least they should be getting a break somewhere in an 8 hour shift, no? Take pay out of the equation and look to improving conditions for staff. Rosters could be sorted ahead of well ahead of time. None of this last second bullshit. This would allow for paid breaks as is everyone’s legal entitlement to a 15min break every 4.5hrs
That’s ridiculous, any bar I go into the bar staff are run completely off their feet and in return they are getting paid a pittance. Does the government help anyone anymore other than cashed up property developers?
Amazing Cathal you got so many red thumbs, seems the I’m alright Jack how are you types are out on force this morning!.
You can play your part and go to the quieter bars to reduce the busy bar staff workload and share the wealth, simples.
Or give a tip…
If everyone who went into a pub – bought the bar person one pint they’;d be a lot better off.
Clearly not, scambridge and low wage Ireland is what the government wants (at least the former one)
Very few other bartenders I know are even a member of this union or know about entitlements. It’s true you work very anti social hours, rarely get more than ‘a smoke break’, and since the crash the wage has continued to drop. I was getting €12 an hour in a late night music bar in Dublin 10 years ago. Skip forward 3 and it was minimum wage and working hours were 10pm til 4am 2 to 3 nights a week. Always been like this but the bat trade is no longer a trade in most owner’s eyes and they’re not willing to pay for it. Good bar staff who pride themselves in their work get hit the most and are becoming less and less
It’s an outrage that people can spend years studying hard to work in a bar and then cannot afford to buy a house.
If only there were alternative jobs out there that paid better that they were allowed to aspire to.
Who would serve you your smirnoff ice then if they all left>?
There are many cogs in society each one must turn for it to work from A**holes like you to the people who serve a**holes like you when you’re in the pub watching the rugby with your heino swigging chums.
It is a outrage that many working class professionals can not afford the asking price of a roof over their head. It should be that if you work damn hard no matter what proffession you can aspire to purchase a property, what determines where and size is the advancement of your career.
Alphanautica…The irony being if everyone took your advice those well paid jobs would not longer be well paid, as companies could source employees at 10-a-penny
Not everyone has the aptitude either for some of these jobs. People here seem to forget that. IQs vary in Ireland between 90-110 on average. Doesnt mean people closer to the 90 mark are stupid, just that it will be more difficult and time consuming to learn skills. Not impossible, just more difficult.
Im blue in the face telling people about free courses on EdX and Coursera. Still though, at times it needs someone going through the material before with you before ‘you get it’.
Whenever I’m in a hotel now, all I see is glum looking businesslike Eastern European bar staff, I wonder what the tourists think.
it is not just hotels. there are seven pubs in and around the Stephen’s green area were most of the staff are east European. glum show gazers.
It’s not just bar work that is underpaid. It’s rife in most sectors. The crash gave all employers the chance they needed to drive wages down and fall back on the excuse that they had to because they were struggling. I accept that some businesses were hit hard but some employers just took the urine with it and now 000′s of workers are getting screwed because of it
A good friend of mine is a bar man and he’s always complaining about wages and conditions. Yet he does nothing about it. I would walk if I was treated like that.
Walk where Tom into another poor paid job?
Maybe try to retrain or better himself William?
William, get real. There are plenty of jobs out there if you have the right skills and qualifications. Maybe William you are one of those that like things handed to them but I prefer to make my own future.
If it was only just as simple as that Avina?.
And what if he cannot afford to acquire the “right skills and qualifications”? Do you still suggest he walks Tom?
Well William, if you’re competing for better paid jobs with those who have been motivated enough to take steps to retrain or improve their qualifications, but you’ve not bothered because you expect someone to just come along and hand you a well-paid job, only one person is going to progress. It’s a reality check and it’s a harsh reality, but that’s the world we live in. Most of us have served time flipping burgers etc. at some point, but most of us have seen it as a temporary step to get by, whilst staying on the road to something better.
Buts that not the point avina its about how some employers are exploiting their staff, doesn’t matter what qualifications you have your employer has a duty to at least treat you with respect, many bar staff work damn hard and often work unholy hours for poor pay/
Well I’d certainly agree that all employers should treat their employees with respect at all times and give them their statutory entitlements, but any wage is based on skills, level of training/education, responsibility and experience. Like it or not, that’s the reality (as the Luas workers just found out).
How could they retrain for better qualifications?
They’re being paid poorly already, so obviously can’t save up enough to take time off work to study.
They work unsocial hours, zero-hour contracts with a lot of uncertainty week-to-week – how can they organise themselves to do this part time?
It’s tough, tiring work and deserves a decent wage. They do not deserve to be exploited.
Oh come off it Meatyslaps. You’re saying that because someone made a bad choice once and took a job as a barman, they’re now condemned to spend the rest of their working days in the same underpaid and overworked job with no prospect of ever ‘escaping’?? Grow up.
I agree they don’t deserve to be exploited, but as long as statutory obligations are being met everyone has choices.
Didn’t say that, just highlighting the difficulties they might face because you made it sound so easy to just switch jobs and retrain.
Bettering yourself and you life isn’t east, it’s never been easy.
Anyone who believe it or it should be probably shouldn’t be left unsupervised for very long.
Lines like that are all well and good, when you want to take the moral highground and ignore the real problems people face when attempting to change.
I never said it was easy Meatyslaps. Life isn’t easy, but everyone has to take personal responsibility for their path in life, and very often it takes tough choices and hard work.
A good bar man should be earning €15 to €20 ph and if their not then move on . Underpaid my eye !
Sure you have your dole as well!
Bar workers are bar workers, not brain surgeons, what do people expect when working in an area that takes at the minimum a couple of weeks training?
Sure there are some chaps in fancy bars mixing cocktails who can rake it in but they’re few and far between.
They expect to be paid enough to live. While it may seem easy to just pull pints, its still hard tiring work with unsocial hours.
“They expect to be paid enough to live”
Enough to live is relative. Being a barman isn’t a job until retirement in the same way sweeping floors at Tesco isn’t, not should it be.
Says you.
Being a barman is as decent a job as any, so is sweeping the floors or stocking the shelves at Tesco. All work should pay enough to live, i.e. enough to eat, pay bills, rent etc. without stressing over it so much, if you’re working full time.
Issues with low-pay and uncertain hours make it completely impossible for anyone in these industries to plan ahead or try to “better themselves” (as you so elegantly put it).
Some snobby comments there Phil. Do you ever tire of looking down your nose?
I’m not looking down my nose. It’s just not a well paying job, never will be a well paying job and in reality shouldn’t be a well paying job.
“All work should pay enough to live, i.e. enough to eat, pay bills, rent etc. without stressing over it so much, if you’re working full time.”
Sure, but again that’s relative. If I want to live in Dublin City centre and eat out every night a job in a bar isn’t going to meet those needs. If I want to own rather than rent a bar job isn’t going to work there either.
“Issues with low-pay and uncertain hours make it completely impossible for anyone in these industries to plan ahead or try to “better themselves” (as you so elegantly put it).”
No it doesn’t. It doesn’t make it easy, for sure, but doesn’t make it impossible.
Unfortunately this is true with some people working 55 to 60 hours for 400 or less, 10 min breaks.. Thankfully not the case with all employers but there are still a lot of them out there.
Any gimp can pull a pint alright…..but try working Xmas..easter…paddy’s……..well all special occasions……when most others are living it up…that’s what makes it tuff..
Good read but will never happen its not a trade anymore im 12 years a bartender and its worse than the article explains anyone can pull a pint but takes time to serve a customer
I always tip at bars
Yes, carrying trays is awkward, especially when you’ve had a few.
Its a tough job working unsociable hours, on your feet all day, dealing with drunk members of the public. Its a job that doesn’t get the respect that it deserves.
I hope there’s a few luas drivers reading this
They should be paid extra just for the amount of drunken nonsense they have to listen to on it’s own. (I know I’ve contributed to this type of nonsense on occasion!)
The pay rate is not determined by bosses or employees. it is determined by market demands. The easier the job, the cheaper the pay. Little training required, everyone can do it, you won’t expect high pay ever. Jumping out of McJob is the only way.
I can assure you Sean that there is an awful lot more to bar work than perfecting the skill of pulling the perfect pint of Guinness, all well and good pulling pints for a few locals during the week, but w/ends can be extremely busy remembering multiple orders, often accompanied with a cocktail or two for your female companions, any slacking and the workload keeps building up, working in busy late bars and niteclubs can be a nightmare sometimes, you would need the patience of a saint!.
Bill,
I had worked in a pub for 7 years. I worked 10-12 hours a day. I had the same thought as you that I deserve decent pay as I believed I worked so hard. But I forgot one thing, I can work hard, everyone else can do the same as well because it is easy job. There is no shortage of bar man supply in market. The competition is intensive. The boss doesn’t care because he can easily find replacement on market.
I decided to find a job more complex and not everyone can easily take. when I started my current job, I believe the bar job is far easier. Now I can negotiate the pay with my boss because I know replacing me will costs boss more than pay rise.
No mention of tips in these figures.
Because Irish people generally don’t tip bar tenders.
True, but figures apply to ‘bar workers’ including table staff who do get tipped.Taking my local as an example, behind the bar is the owner and the manager who serve the drinks , then 2-3 table staff who regularly get tipped, especially when serving food.
It’s a desirable second job for students and young people, the conditions may be difficult but I doubt it’s hard to find people for the position.
They don’t “deserve” anything else other than what the business chooses to pay them, bars aren’t an essential part of society.
Ar u serious? Bartenders spend years studying drinks techniques brands etc. All jus t help you when you cant tell the difference between a woo woo and a cosmo!
I’ll let Matt Walsh respond to this with a post from yesterday regarding US fast-food workers going on strike… http://themattwalshblog.com/2016/04/19/4990/
@Brian Lenehan,
He’s just a right wing stooge, trying to pretend all fast food workers are teenagers.
national hug a barman day. jesus wept. harsh reality is its a job for the braindead
It’s one of those jobs that you have to give up if you want to get married, take out a mortgage, and don’t want to die of starvation.
Dublin, Dublin Dublin…
It’s a pity that an awful lot of bar staff don’t even know how to pull a pint ! Watch them pull a pint, in a lot of cases hands covering the top half of the glass where you will be sipping from and you wonder why you get a cold sore! Basic hygiene?
Chefs as well
Why not put their hand in the till?
Why don’t they start their own bars/pubs themselves
At least bar staff have a union,chefs are underpaid and overworked and yet nothing is said about it cause there isn’t even a union!
We drink to much as a nation, perhaps if we drank more, the bar staff could get paid more!!!!
I am owed thousands in back pay from that industry. How do I claim.
In fairness they put up with a lot of shite
Where are the unions getting this idea that workers are in some type of profit sharing scheme. Company profits go up and the workers should share in that? They do not own the company. Yes workers should be paid a fair wage, but the government have determined that the fair wage is minimum wage, rightly or wrongly as the case may be. My personal opinion is that there shouldn’t be a minimum wage, but a living wage by county council. As we all know that it costs less to live in areas outside major urban centres. Unions will bring us back to the jolly up days of the late 90′s and early to mid 2000′s…
But they get tips I believe. A bar job is normally part-time and the people study and will switch when possible to something else. The time I work in a bar after some time you can tell your boss when you have other commitments and any normal boss understand you live not for him. You work the saturday and Friday but during the week you can ask off or twitxh with colleges. You talk to them and go to your boss. You ask to talk to him and explain him your situation or you leave and find a job in another bar were they reasonable as there are many bars. About your holidays. Everyone has holidays and if you work for 9 euro an hour and 2 euro tip an hour at least. That is 1800 or 2000 a month I believe if you work 8 hours. Free food included and a normal boss hive you a break as he will see the energy he get back. Otherwise you leave off course to a lower paid place on tips but reasonable boss
have your say