One of Derry’s most prominent trade unionists has issued a stern warning to local voters to elect representatives based on bread and butter issues to avoid an outcome which he said could become a ‘sectarian headcount.’
Liam Gallagher, Secretary of the Derry Trades Council, made the comments following a meeting on Thursday evening and said he and other trade unionists now feel it’s time to begin a debate around what the Derry needs.
He said local MLA’s who were claiming to stand up for Derry were also part of an executive which was ultimately implementing Tory cuts. He urged voters to press politicians hard on economic issues when they canvass on doorsteps in the coming weeks.
“There’s no point in our elected representatives pretending that we’re all in this together,” he said.
“The budget cuts coming directly from London will affect every worker and every family in this city and it’s now time for people to ask every politician who canvasses for their vote what they have done in concrete terms for the families of this city.
“We have to start questioning the level of representation and effectiveness that we’re getting. Never have we as a city faced such an economic downturn.
“The comprehensive spending review will impact on local homes, hospitals and councils.
“We currently have the highest youth unemployment in the North and we have 19 graduates going for every job vacancy.
“One in five of our young people are unemployed and against that backdrop we have local politicians entering into a blame game about the situation we find ourselves in.”
Mr. Gallagher continued: “Our MLA’s are making no real effort and we now have less than 3,000 manufacturing jobs left in the city. Householders need to make clear that they will not support any party who support pushing unemployment up.
“What we should be questioning is why our representatives in Stormont won’t take the same stance on Tory cuts as they did on policing and justice.”
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