Gama workers protest pay and conditions

Hundreds of Turkish workers at Gama Construction walked off sites at Ballymun and Balgaddy in Dublin on Monday to take part in a city centre protest to Leinster House. A smaller protest was held in Galway on Tuesday.

At a meeting in Liberty Hall afterwards, the workers authorised union leaders to pursue the company for detailed information on money held in the workers' names, without their knowledge, in accounts in Amsterdam.

Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins last week revealed that the workers only found out about the accounts when the company coached them to tell inspectors from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment that they had funds in them.

Gama denies this and claims the workers were aware of the accounts and had signed forms to open them. It now says it is issuing a letter in Turkish to the workers telling them how to access their accounts.

Gama has been under fire since February, when Higgins in the Dáil accused the company of engaging in "immigrant worker exploitation of massive proportions", including "grotesque" working hours, housing in "company barracks" and hourly rates of pay of as little as €2 to €3.

Minister Mícheál Martin suspended the issuing of work permits to the company.

Gama employs about 800 Turkish workers in Ireland.