Trade unionists calling for review of off-the-dole scheme and support for housing workers

Trade unionists are demanding Derry City and Strabane District Council call for a comprehensive review of the government's latest off-the-dole scheme '˜Steps to Success',

Members of Derry Trades Union Council made the call ahead of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s monthly meeting in the Guildhall this afternoon.

DTUC is calling for a “comprehensive analysis” of ‘Steps to Success’ to be carried out.

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It follows a picket of the People Plus NI jobs centre in the old City shirt factory last month when trade unionists called for the Department for Communities ‘Steps 2 Success’ programme to be scrapped.

During the council meeting Independent Councillor Darren O’Reilly will move that the local authority support the DTUC’s call for “a comprehensive analysis to be carried out into the outcomes of the Steps to Success Programme in this Council area”.

Immediately before the meeting community workers will also gather outside the Guildhall at 3.30pm to protest against cuts to vital Supporting People funding, which is used to staff a range of organisations that provide housing for vulnerable people in the city.

On Saturday trade unionists will celebrate International Workers’ Day with a rally in the city centre.

The May Day rally will convene in Guildhall Square at 1.20pm.

The main theme this year will be “precarious employment practices” in the city.