Striking council workers deserve support, not demonisation

People Before Profit's Shaun Harkin has stated that Derry City & Strabane District Council's ignoring of demands for a fair pay-rise has led to workers going out on strike.

The industrial action taken by Council workers began today after talks with the UNITE trade union over pay broke down.

This means that a number of services to Derry residents will be severely affected such as refuse collections, swimming pool use, leisure facilities and public park/play areas.

Cemeteries will remain open as will the Guildhall and Tower Museum. Those wishing to register births, deaths and marriages will still be able to do so.

However, those services that are restricted or withdrawn due to strike action will affect many in the city.

Cllr Harkin, who represents the Foyleside ward, insists that workers deserves solidarity and not blame adding that if anyone should be held to account, it is local and national government itself.

He said: “Council and many other essential workers striking this week in Derry and across the North for a fair pay rise deserve our full solidarity.

“The decision to take industrial action isn't reached lightly.

“There will be a serious disruption to vital everyday services that we all depend on.

“Workers have been treated with contempt by Westminster and Stormont. We're in a cost of living crisis and many workers are struggling to pay their bills.

“Workers are being forced to strike because their demands for a fair pay rise have been ignored.

“Let's not allow the political establishment to demonise workers as greedy or selfish. The problem is the political establishment who facilitate corporations to treat workers, as P&O Ferries owners has done recently, while workers endured years of pay cuts.

“MLAs are getting a £500 pay rise in April. MPs are grabbing a £2200 pay rise in April. Big corporations have been sucking in record profits. Elites and the politically connected have grabbed government handout after handout while the least well-off are impoverished by energy costs.

“People power action is the only way we will win the change workers and all our communities need. Now's the time for unity and solidarity.”

Derry Trades Union Council also backed the striking workers and urged the public to show their support – including not crossing any picket lines.

A spokesperson said: “Hundreds of workers in Derry will be taking strike action during March 21 and we have a duty to support these striking workers, support comes in many ways and fundamentally this includes never crossing a picket line.

“Wednesday, March 23 will provide us all with an opportunity to come together in struggle and to also witness the combined power of three different groups of workers.

“Education Welfare Officers in NIPSA, Magee University Staff in UCU and Council Workers in UNITE will gather at the UCU picket line at Magee University for 11am before making their way to the Council offices on the Strand Road for a solidarity demonstration of people power

“Trade union members in NIPSA, UCU and UNITE will come together with Derry Trades Union Council in a show of solidarity and collective resistance.

“Led by a labour movement uprising, a post pandemic reckoning, the time has come for workers to seize influence and power. The current economic situation and a society wide malaise means we must enforce our demands.

“Demands which include pay awards that are meaningful, respectful and above inflation, pension protections, an end to casualisation, demands which also incorporate the need for changes in how the political system views working class communities.

“Poverty, hunger and marginalisation must be brought to an end.

“The current cost of living crisis and falling living standards means that a reckoning must be had between ordinary people and the establishment.

“These workers have been called essential but now find themselves being treated as expendable, workers who only want a fair return for their toil.

“Through their combined memberships, all three trade unions have shown they are willing to take the courageous act of a strike, to win a better deal and a better life.

“Unionised workers can be the difference between working class people returning to a position of power and delivering a real leveling up of the fruits of labour and production.

“Derry Trades Union Council would like to reach out to members of the public asking that they show solidarity with these workers on strike, together we all want a better future for each other.

“We must build on these strikes and make sure they are not the last, building up and up until the establishment submits.”

In response, a spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council said: “We can confirm that formal notification has been received from UNITE the Union in relation to strike action from today Monday, March 21 until Sunday, March 27 inclusive.

“The Council fully respects the right of staff to take industrial action following an official ballot.

“Council expects there to be considerable disruption to a range of our services including refuse collection, street cleansing and a number of other services throughout this week.

“Information in relation to the strike action will be updated daily on the Council website at: www.derrystrabane.com/strike-action.”