One day strike at Inver company next Wednesday

SIPTU members employed in the South Donegal Rural Deanery Company in Inver have announced today that they will be conducting a 24-hour work stoppage this coming Wednesday, July 6.

They have voted to join their colleagues in the Irish Wheelchair Association and numerous organisations in county Galway and county Waterford in a one-day work stoppage next week as part of a long running pay dispute.

SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, Adrian Kane, said: “The worsening cost of living crisis means that these workers feel they now have no option but to take a stand and demand their first pay rise in 14 years.

“These workers are earning the same wages they did in 2008. That means in reality, while they have been delivering vital services to their communities, these workers have suffered a major decrease in the value of their earnings which is just not sustainable any longer.

“Their demand is simple. That the Government lives up to its commitment to creating a collective bargaining forum where these workers can negotiate improvements to their wages and conditions of employment.

"It is government departments which fund the organisations that employ these workers and that it is why its representatives must come to the table when pay is being negotiated in this sector.”

He added: “Next week sees the beginning of the industrial action stage of the Valuing Community campaign for pay justice for workers in the community sector and Section 39 organisations (Non-Acute/Community Agencies being provided with funding under Section 39 of the Health Act, 2004).

After more than a decade, these workers are saying enough is enough. They want to bargain for a better future for themselves and the services they provide. They will neither stay silent nor beg for justice any longer.”