NI trade unionists converge on Derry for biennial conference

The Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NIC-ICTU) is hosting its Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) this week in Derry.
Liam Gallagher.Liam Gallagher.
Liam Gallagher.

The two-day event will run today and tomorrow at the City Hotel and will be attended by 250 delegates from the 34 trade unions and ten trades councils affiliated to congress in Northern Ireland.

The NI committee of the ICTU is the representative body for 34 trade unions with more than 215,000 members across the North.

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Among those speaking at the event will be Patricia King, General Secretary of the ICTU, who will make her first major speech in Northern Ireland since becoming the leader of the trade union movement on the island of Ireland.

Liam Gallagher, of Derry Trades Council, says holding the conference in the city is timely.

“In 2016, Derry has the highest levels of unemployment and economic inactivity in the entire UK,” he said.

“We need investment in infrastructure and we need to protect the jobs that still exist in manufacturing here. Instead of focusing on Corporation Tax, we should be looking at using the money we have already borrowed to invest in a 10 year infrastructure plan for the North West,” added Mr. Gallagher.