Derry Trades Union Council: No one should be tempted to work for fear of missing a rent payment’

Let us not forget the position people are currently in as we face into this current crisis: Foodbanks are already at record levels, in-work poverty is at record levels. Here, people are already at breaking point financially living from month to month.

People do not have the financial capacity to endure further financial hardships. Our hospitals were already over stretched prior to this pandemic and we once again will be leaning on the heroic workers within our health service to care and support us while over worked and under resourced. We have heard much in recent weeks and days of markets and profit lines, share prices and interest rates. Although it’s important we try to protect businesses and the economy as best we can, we must recognise that this is secondary, in the first instance we must protect life, our families and friends, our community. We must ensure people can afford to isolate when needed. But we must also recognise there are practical real world issues that need addressed now, to ensure that workers can isolate and in doing so help prevent the spread of this potentially fatal illness.

All workers must receive sick pay at their normal wage level if they have to take time off to isolate. If we do this, the economy will also benefit as people will retain their purchase power allowing us to stimulate the economy quickly once the crisis is over.

We also call on all employers to identify and engage with those within their work force who may be vulnerable to the virus or that may have caring responsibilities at home or may regularly need to be in contact with someone who is deemed as potentially vulnerable to the virus and take robust and bold action to ensure we mitigate as much as possible the risk to those how could be particularly at risk from the virus. We need an emergency fund to support our health service and to support and provide sick pay for all workers, including those on zero hour contracts, in the gig economy or with bogus self employment. Currently two million workers do not qualify for statutory sick pay including 1 in every 10 working women. We call on all political leaders to act now in implementing these actions. No one should be tempted to return to work instead of isolating due to fear of not being able to pay the rent. We also call for legislators and employers to go further for those workers who’s underlying health conditions (or those of someone they regularly must be in contact with) make them particularly vulnerable to this virus, to ensure they are not put in unnecessary risk to manage costs or maintain a profit line. We call on all workers to organise through their trade unions and engage with employers to ensure we all collectively and responsibly respond to the challenge in front of us.