Hundreds turn out for Derry Trades Union Council ‘We Demand Better’ rally for better pay and cost-of-living action

The demonstration was called as part of the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ campaign for better pay, conditions and welfare entitlements for employed and unemployed workers and better cost-of-living supports for families and households.

The rally heard how workers and families, as well as local service providers, are struggling to cope under rising inflationary pressures, which are continuing to squeeze incomes.

Maria Morgan, NIPSA Deputy General Secretary, spoke of the severe financial pressure many of its members are under.

"We are hearing from some of our members that they are having to take out loans just to get them through to the end of the month, just to pay for essentials, and that the use of foodbanks is now the norm. It's quite incredible that we have got to this point and political decisions were taken to get us to this place,” she said.

Ellen Moore, from the Cost of Living Crisis Campaign, called for further demonstrations.

"We need to be on the streets more often. We have to be heard. We can't let governments off the hook from seeing people here going to die this winter. The state of our health service is a disgrace. The money that people are earning is a disgrace. The benefits – that’s a nightmare.

“We all need to get together and make some noise and let them know that we are not going to lie down and let them walk all over us. We have to keep going,” said Ms. Moore.

Troy Hunter, a Housing Executive worker who is a member of the Unite union, spoke of ongoing industrial action by its members.

"We have been out on strike now a total of 16 weeks. I am here today as a striking worker. What you cant see here today is the other 360 men who are also out from their jobs in the NIHE, from Pennyburn, Coleraine, Portadown and Belfast, and we have all stood up and said no to pay cuts and are demanding better pay.

"What you don't see behind those men out are the countless tenants, countless communities and families disrupted with the strike action that's going on,” he said.

Siobhan McElhinney, INTO’s Northern Chairperson, spoke of the difficulty educating the next generation under increasingly straitened circumstances.

"As an education worker for almost 30 years I see education as becoming a token gesture under this Tory government, as Nelson Mandela quoted - ‘education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world’ - but how can we change the world if there is no investment?

"How can we educate children in rooms that are not heated adequately? It is now the case for boards of governors - do we heat the classrooms or do we employ the needed classroom assistants and teachers?”

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Tommy McCallion spoke of the difficulties facing the community sector.

"Representing Galliagh Community Centre, Galliagh Residents’ Association and On Street Community Youth on a daily basis, we are seeing the brutal impact of austerity and we are also reminded that we must give a voice to those most in need.

"The time for change is here. The time to say ‘enough is enough’ is here. We must unite and stand together as one to demand better,” he said.

Joe Moore, from Aegis, said: "In the current global system of commerce we need to ask ourselves – is it really working for us? When we look around as the polar ice caps melt, as food supplies run short, and as WW3 creeps ever closer, and, for some reason, all the bees are dying - maybe it's time now to make a wee change. We only get one life and we deserve to live it.”

Amie Gallagher, from the Focus Project, who works with working class women spoke of the damaging impact austerity, COVID-19 and the cost-of-living crisis have had.

"We are in constant crisis management helping people to survive. If your basic needs are not being met how can you be empowered?

"75% of families in the North will be struggling to make ends meet by January and I would probably say the number is higher in Derry as we all know.

"We ran a free winter coat scheme this year, with some political representatives praising this initiative. There is nothing to praise. It is shameful that we even need it. This normalisation of charity must stop. We shouldn't have clothes banks, food banks or warm banks.”

Life expectancy among poorer Derry men falling

Niall McCarroll, Chairperson of DTUC, urged young people to join a trade union.

"The only way workers will get respect and proper pay is by joining a trade union and getting active in your local trade union branch.

"We must realise that the strongest revolutionary movement today is the trade union movement – workers coming together and demanding better.

"The establishment fears one thing above all else and that's organised workers, because they know that without workers they cant make profits, hold onto power and lifestyles.

"Trade unions have the power to end rising energy costs, rising food costs and the power to deliver a society in which we all have decent standards of living,” said Mr. McCarroll.

The Workers Demand Better campaign is calling for government support and resources to households, (prioritising those on fixed incomes and low to middle incomes) to assist them when it comes to the cost of energy over the next number of months; pay improvements in each workplace, and state action to address the social wage; engagement with the trade union movement and the implementation of progressive policies that support workers and their families; and a new deal towards a safe and secure future for all.

Shailesh Vara addresses dip in life expectancy for poorer Derry men