Sligo community workers demand equal rights

COMMUNITY workers from across the North West, including workers from Sligo Springboard Project, Cranmore and Sligo Leitrim Home Youth Liaison Service travelled to Dublin to demand equal rights for sector workers. They were joined by Labour Party representatives including Party Leader, Ivana Bacik TD and Nessa Cosgrove, Local Area Rep for the Labour Party in Sligo-Leitrim. The Sligo based spokesperson commented: “The May Day Holiday has long been associated with workers. As long ago as 1889, May 1st was designated as ‘International Worker’s Day’. It was instituted as a Bank Holiday in Ireland by Labour TD Ruairí Quinn in 1993 when he was minister for enterprise and employment, and this protest was timed to conclude the Bank Holiday weekend.”

Nessa, a former Youth Worker in the community and voluntary sector, continued: “Conditions for many workers have improved considerably since the late 19th Century. Sadly, this progress has stalled in recent years” “Succesive governments, dominated by the two main conservative parties, have followed an increasingly market-led approach to the delivery of services. Many services that should be, and otherwise would have to be, delivered by the State are farmed out to the 30,000 not-for-profit organisations active in the community and voluntary sector.” She said Tuesday’s National Day of Protest organised by members of SIPTU, FORSÁ and the INMO should act as a wakeup call to the Government, and indeed to politicians of all parties as well as independents. The recruitment and retention of good quality staff becomes more difficult each year as the gulf in terms and conditions between our organisations and the public sector becomes increasingly obvious. This is having a negative long-term effect on the quality-of-service delivery.”