Working class communities must be ready to stand as one: DTUC

When the ballot boxes are collected across the Foyle constituency, only one thing will be certain: five election candidates will be selected to represent everyone in Foyle, writes Niall McCarroll, chairperson, Derry Trades Union Council (DTUC).

The big questions will be: will these five finally put right the decades of neglect and underinvestment across the NW? Will they collectively make a difference to the lives of local people? Do they have what it takes to succeed, on behalf of local people?

DTUC want to see all eight Executive departments making decisions that bring a lasting and significant reward to workers, families and marginalised working class communities. Pay justice for all workers and an end to the outsourcing and privatisation of public services would be a huge step in the right direction. Surely 2022 is well past the time for the political system to bring to an end such things as poverty pay, the working poor and the huge disparities in salaries.

Young people working locally and earning less than £5 an hour in a shop, hotel and coffee shop - which posts huge profits - should be a priority for all local politicians, a priority if we truly desire a real and lasting change. Those elected to represent Foyle need to maximise their position of influence and do something about the disastrous low wage economy which blights local people’s livelihoods, prevents social mobility and keeps out of reach any capacity to live a life well lived. Of course, many elections have come and gone, with real change for working class communities promised and, then, discarded with apparent ease. This election must be different.

Following this election, if change doesn’t come and things continue as before, then change it seems will not be delivered through the political system. Therefore, change will only be delivered through workers taking action with the support of their trade union, organising and mobilising through sustained industrial action. Working class communities need to be ready to stand as one and in solidarity with each other, with the shop worker, the local person on the NHS waiting list, the parents who can’t afford school uniforms and everyone in struggle. For now, it’s over to those elected to represent Foyle. We won’t wait forever, we simply don’t have the means to do so.